Falling and Rising
by High Serpent King
Summary: After S8 all angels fell including the renegades that were locked in Heaven's dungeons. Now freed, they wreak holy havoc. Hellish havoc too with Abaddon and Cain risen and free to do as they wish. Dean, Sam and Castiel rise to stop them all, but will they with inner demons threatening to make them fall? Plus new players are on Heaven's side aiming to raise and reclaim their prince.
1. It's Heaven on Earth

**Falling and Rising**

Chapter 1: It's Heaven on Earth 

Dean and Sam run out of the church to see the sky lit up with balls of light falling from the sky. Dean didn't have to think too long on what these were. Naomi had been telling the truth. The angels were being banished from heaven; they were falling.

"Dean," Sam called next to him. "We…I," he coughed out.

Sam was starting to wobble on his feet. Dean's instincts kicked into hyperdrive as he rushed to catch him before he fell on his back. It looked like he had passed out.

"Sam," he said gently. He got no response so he lightly tapped his cheeks. "Sam," he said a little louder. Again there was nothing and Dean felt for a pulse and to his horror he felt that it was a weak one. "Sam!"

At that same moment in a house off a road there was a couple engaging in…semi-illegal activity in the woman's bedroom. When they were done they laid on their backs panting hard and wiping the sweat from their brows.

"Whew," the man breathed out. "That was great."

The woman laughed a bit. "Yeah," she gasped out.

"Do you treat everyone who helps you fix your car like this."

"Only the real good ones," she jested.

He then went to spoon her. "Hey, I'm not _that_ good. But I couldn't just leave a pretty lady and her shot car stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the night."

The girl was staring out at her window and saw that there seemed to be light spilling into the room. She then moved out of the embrace and leant on her shoulders. "What is that?"

The man went to stare at the window too. "I don't know."

The woman ran to put a robe on while the man pulled on his jeans and ran out the front door to gaze at quite a sight. There were balls of light falling from the sky.

"Wow," the woman said in awe. "Is it a meteor shower?"

"I don't know."

They watched as those lights fell to earth though one of them was falling very close to them. They started to get a little worried and actually ran back into the house as it seemed to crash close to the woman's front porch. Afterwards the man ran out as he saw that it seemed close to where he had parked his bike. He walked around the new crater and saw that his motorcycle seemed to be untouched.

"What happened?" the woman asked coming back out.

There seemed to be a light shining from the crater and the two of them gently approached closer. Suddenly, there was a piercing humming sound that had the woman rush to close her ears. The man however stayed still as he gazed at the light that seemed to be glowing brighter as it seemed to rise out of the hole.

"What happening?" the woman screamed. The humming seemed to be getting louder and the ground nearby seemed to be shaking.

The man didn't respond but just kept gazing out like a zombie before he finally said, "Yes." Suddenly the light enveloped him and seemed to seep into his eyes and mouth. There was a split second where the light and humming vanished that had the woman stare at her nighttime partner before a light shot out of the man's body that's force shattered the windows of her home.

The angel opened his eyes and took a deep breath as he took in the sight in his new vessel. He looked around and saw a woman in a robe on the ground with her eyes burnt out.

"That happens every time," he said calmly though quite a bit out of breath.

* * *

><p><strong>SUPERNATURAL<strong>

* * *

><p>It was three days after that night and Dean was not fairing too good. He was in the waiting room at a hospital that he had rushed Sam too after he collapsed. There were a few other people there with a flat screen set up in the corner with a newscast about the angels falling. They were calling it a meteor shower that was surprisingly seen from many points of the globe at once. Images coming from New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Cairo, Moscow, Berlin, Jerusalem, and Sydney flashed through the screen with the same meteor like shower seen that was baffling scientists. Dean hardly paid it any mind. He had checked him in as a victim of some sort of anxiety attack before he went back to the church and got Crowley and locked him up in the trunk of his car that was completely warded to keep him from getting out. He had hardly eaten anything and had spent most of his time staring at the same damn wall waiting for someone to tell him what was wrong with his brother. He had tried calling Cas and had even prayed to him but so far, nothing.<p>

Suddenly a man in a white coat entered the waiting area. "Sam Allman?"

Dean was in his feet before you could blink and moving for the man. "Doctor?"

"You're the patient's brother, correct?" Dean nodded. "You could see your brother now."

Dean was taken to Sam's room where he was hooked up to a number of machines. He was as still as a statue and didn't seem to be any better than he was the first night. In fact, he seemed worse. "So doc, what's the deal? What's wrong with him?"

"To be honest, we don't know," he said carefully.

Dean glared at the doctor. "You don't know?!" he asked incredulously.

"There seems to be a multitude of conditions. His bodily functions seem to be shutting down little by little like his heart and liver. He also seems to be showing a steady drop of neural synapsis. It's been a real battle just to keep him alive to tell you the truth. If it wasn't for these machines then he would already be dead. He had been quite critical for a while until we've been able to get him to be in this coma like state."

"A coma?" Dean tried very hard not to fall to pieces right there. His brother was not dead, he was still alive and not dead. "So, is there a chance he can get better?"

The doctor caught his eye. "I'm afraid it's not that simple," he said. "Listen, your brother's body seems to be falling apart at the seams. These machines are keeping him alive but it's more like they're holding back the tide. His body will stay alive but."

"He's going to be all but dead," Dean croaked out. "There's no recovery. No bouncing back from this?"

The doctor breathed out a breath he had been holding for a while. "I'm afraid your brother's in God's hands now."

Dean was starting to see red. "You're a doctor! You're a medical professional and all you can tell me is that my brother is in god's hands?!"

This doctor was used to dealing with irate friends and family of patients so he hardly flinched at Dean's tone. "Sir," he said trying to calm him down.

"God has nothing to do with this and never will! That's not good enough!" Dean slammed a fist into one of the bedposts.

"Sir!" the doctor said again but louder.

Dean deflated there. Attacking the doctor for his words wouldn't help his brother. Dean left the room not sure where to head now until he saw the sign for the hospital's chapel. Right now, he didn't have any better ideas. He entered to see that there were about a half dozen people there all with their heads down in silent prayer. These places always had given him bad vibes, more so now after everything that's happened but he was desperate. Maybe being here might actually help in getting through to the one person he could still depend on to help his brother.

Dean went to a far off corner and kneeled and bent his head down. "Cas," he mumbled. "it's me again. Wherever you are, I need your help. It's Sam. I just heard that he starting to slip and he needs your help. I need your help. Look, I'm sure that you're busy what with the angels falling and all. I'm not going to pretend that I'm sorry about that. They're a bunch of stuck up mooks that probably deserve it, not you of course, but I'm sure you might disagree. I'm begging ya. Please come and save my brother. It shouldn't have been him in the first place. It should've been me. Cas…please come and help him. Help me."

His heart dropped further when there was nothing happening.

* * *

><p>Castiel had been spending the last few days wandering about. He had been traveling for the last three days by foot to where Dean and Sam were housed in the Men of Letter's bunker in Kansas. Surely they could help him with what has happened. Metatron had tricked him, used him and robbed him of his grace. Thanks to him now all of his fellow angels had fallen from heaven and had lost their wings so they can't get back. He wanted so badly to believe that he was trying to help in quell the in fighting with his brothers that he didn't realize that he was being deceived. He was feeling much worse than he did when he was cut off from heaven during the Apocalypse. This time he wasn't anything close to an angel, he had fallen much further than any of his brothers and sisters had. He was human.<p>

Metatron had dropped him off in the wilderness of Nebraska and he had finally made it to some kind of degree of civilization in a small community. He was finding that his feet where hurting and his stomach was starting to turn from the inside and the rumbling was getting worse. He was passing a park where there were some people talking and playing about. A child was complaining about the food that his mother had given him. The mother told the boy to eat it but he cried that he didn't like it and he ran off to play with some other children. The woman angrily put the food in a plastic bag and then went to leave it at the top of a semi full trash bin. When the woman walked away something came over Castiel. His stomach rumbled harder and he found himself going for the bin and taking the bag out. He began to walk away with it and dug threw it to find some kind of spiced meat with rice. He began to dig in and found a sort of relief coming over him. He didn't understand that child's reasoning; this food wasn't terrible, it was heaven (how ironic was that).

Castiel found some bench at the far off corner of the park to enjoy the rest of the food he had acquired. He counted his blessings that the child had been willing to let go of this food without making too much a dent in its supply. He felt somewhat sated now but he was feeling like something was missing. Young people on things that he understood to be called rollerblades zipped on past him.

"Hey wait up." One of them fell behind as he went over to a fountain and began to drink water before he raced to rejoin them.

Castiel coughed a bit before he got up and went to the fountain himself. He bent his head and took a drink and found the other part of what his body seemed to be missing.

* * *

><p>Dean sat there in the chapel for near an hour waiting for Cas to just appear behind him like he was used to but there was no sign of his trenchcoated friend. He hoped that Cas wouldn't ignore him on a call that had the message of Sam being on death's door. He had to assume that something just might've happened to him after he had dropped him off to save Sam. Dean saw that there was only one other hope he had.<p>

"Screw it," he mumbled before bending down again in prayer. "Okay, listen up. This one goes out to any angel with their ears on. This is Dean Winchester and I need your help."

_The deal is this. I'm at Glenwood Memorial Hospital; Redgulf, New York. The first one that gets here gets my help in return and you know that is not worth nothing._

Two angels in freshly acquired vessels in a station wagon looked to each other then nodded as they went off and turned their car around.

_It's no secret that we haven't always seen eye to eye but you know I am good for my word. I wouldn't ask if I didn't need it._

The angel was listening to the prayer as he zipped down the highway on the motorcycle with the wind flapping into his face. So Dean Winchester's brother Sam was in trouble. He heard much of the Winchester brothers and it just might be what he has been needing. His condition wasn't improving as fast as he would've liked it to. He pulled over and went to look up this hospital on his vessel's phone. He wasn't too far away. The key for getting what he wanted may just lie in that hospital.

* * *

><p>Sam was lying as still as a statue in his hospital with nothing but the beeps and hums of the medical machines to break the silence of the room. Any onlooker would've thought he was completely at rest. The truth was Sam was doing nothing close to resting. In the bowels of his mind he was running. He was in thick in woods reminiscent of Purgatory's wilds. Something was chasing him, he could just feel it. Sam didn't know how hard or long he had been running but it stopped when he ran into something that sent him to the ground.<p>

"Ow, would you watch where you're going boy?!" an all too familiar voice said with a familiar annoyed tone.

Sam looked up in astonishment. "Bobby?"

Bobby looked just the same with his flannel shirt, vest, and his cap. "Hey Sam, it's good to see you again."

"But…how? What are you doing here?"

"Sam, I always prided you on the smartest of the two of you. Surely you can guess what's going on here."

Suddenly, memories of how he had been feeling after completing the first and second trials came in as well as how weak he had been feeling after every injection he gave to Crowley when he was trying to purify and 'cure' him for the final trial. "I'm dying, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Bobby answered simply. "With the amount of times you had, I'm surprised it took you this long to get that. You think you'd be used to it by now."

Sam just looked on sadly at Bobby's attempt to bring humor into all of this. "Bobby," he said weakly.

Bobby's grin dropped and he coughed. "Right…let's take a break from the running and just take a nice walk."

"Here?"

Suddenly, the gloom of the forest was replaced by a tranquil sunshine.

"Yeah, here."

* * *

><p>Dean finished the prayer and went to get up to leave when an elderly lady came up to him.<p>

"Excuse me young man," she said gently. "I couldn't help but overhear. Did you just pray for your brother to be healed?"

"Yeah, something like that. He's…well he's not doing so well right now."

The woman nodded. "I understand what you're going through. My niece is suffering from a brain tumor. They just told me yesterday that she won't make it past the week. I was just praying for her."

"I'm sorry," he said with complete empathy. "But I'm sure that your niece wouldn't want you to get your hopes up for a miracle. Those are in short supply these days. I'm just hoping that its not too late for my brother and I to come out of this."

"You don't strike me as the faithful type and judging from what you just said it looks like I was right." Dean raised his eyebrows in confusion. "I wasn't praying for a miracle. I fully understand what is going to inevitably happen. It's clear that you care a great deal for your brother. You are the eldest I'm guessing?" Dean nodded. "I raised my niece since she was a small child. She was as good as my own daughter and I took care of her always to the best of my ability. Even now I'm doing what I can to the best of my ability. I was praying that she get a safe trip to heaven and she be allowed to rest in peace until it is my time to meet up with her again. I did what I can for her in her life and I'm seeing to it that God and his angels help look after her in death in my place. Maybe instead of praying for a miracle it might be best to pray for relief and assurance."

"Listen, I appreciate the advice. I can see that you are just trying to help…but I'm not just about to stand back just roll up the red carpet for my brother to be taken from me. He's going to come back if it's the last thing I do."

The woman seemed to start to pity him. "Some things are just inevitable. Fighting it could just bring pain for both you and the one you're trying to save. I did that with my niece with making her go through so many procedures and stressful sessions instead of making the most of the time we had left."

"My brother and my whole lives have been nothing but a fight. Even the inevitable gets beaten down by us time and again."

"Down, but not out. Am I right? It could only be fought off so long before it wins and it always does in the end. Trust me." The woman caressed Dean's cheek smoothly before she took her leave from the chapel.

* * *

><p>"So it's finally coming down huh?" Bobby said as he and Sam walked through the forest of his mind or soul or whatever this place was. "The last red curtain but this time no rope to pull it back up."<p>

"We don't know that for sure Bobby."

"C'mon Sam. I think deep down inside you knew what was going to happen the moment you completed the first trial. You couldn't fully understand it but you still knew what it was. The End. The true End. One that can't be healed or dealed away. Cas confirmed himself, didn't he?"

Sam stopped and remembered the angel's words about him being damaged in ways that not even he could heal.

Bobby continued. "It's been quite a show, hasn't it?"

"My show isn't ready to end just yet."

"Isn't it?" asked Bobby. "You've had quite a run haven't you? How many lives have you saved in your time? How much evil have you stood in the way of? Sam, you saved the world. How many other hunters or anything could make such a boast? There's no shame to take center stage and bow at the applause now."

Sam carefully considered his words. Bobby had a point. His life may not have been what he wanted at times but it had been fulfilling. He had made his mark and it was one to be proud of. Yet before he could think more on that another voice was heard.

"Don't tell me you're actually listening to this crap Sam?!"

Sam turned around to see his brother standing there not looking any bit happy. "Dean?"

* * *

><p>Dean walked over to his car in the hospital's garage and knocked on the trunk. "Hey Crowley, everything solid in there?" There was some shuffling in response. "Just knock against the door once for yes and twice for no." There were two bumps. "Good," he said before stepping away. Dean was starting to think that Crowley might just be his last hope. It was a trump card he really didn't want to pull out right now.<p>

He decided to go and take one more look at his brother and headed for the hospital interior before a car zipped on and narrowly avoided hitting him. It pulled to a stop just after the taillight passed him. "Hey! Watch it there pal!" he cried out.

The driver of the car got out and approached Dean. It was a middle aged man, normal looking really, but he abnormally went and punched Dean across the face. He then took Dean by the scruff of his jacket's neck and threw him over the car. The passenger door opened revealing another guy who grabbed Dean and forced him face first into the car's hood with his hands gripped tight behind him. Dean then felt a blade at the slide at the edge of his neck.

"Hello Dean Winchester," the driver said coming up at his side. "We got your message."

Dean turned slightly to see that it was an angel blade that was being held on him. "Oh thank god then," he said sarcastically.

"You have a lot of nerve to send out a widespread prayer like that to a good deal of us that would like nothing more than to gut you like a fish for what's happened. But, before we do that, we have to ask where is Castiel?"

He tried to fight back but the angel had a firm and strong hold on him. "Who's asking?"

"Try every angel on earth that was ejected from heaven," growled his captor. "He and Metatron caused us all to fall and let me just say that a good many of us are less than happy with him."

"Oh well in that case I don't know," he said back in sarcasm.

"Then there is no real reason to keep you and your brother around any more, is there?" the first one said again taking out his own blade.

Yet before anything else could happen a blade's end came out of the angel's chest from where he was stabbed from behind. Light and screams erupted from the angel as he dropped down dead. The angel holding Dean threw him aside as he faced the intruder. His face went from one of anger to horror in a moment.

"You?" his jaw dropped surprise and fear. "Not you."

"Yes, me," said the new angel with a smug smile before he fought and cut down the other one with ease.

Dean got to his feet and backed away into a defense stance to look at the new angel, at least he thought it was an angel. All angels he met seemed to always dress in some kind of normalcy or fine suit, even douches like Lucifer and Balthazar. Yet this one was very different. The guy looked around his age though his hair was longer and gel was used to spike it up a bit. He wore black jean pants with chains hanging over both is pockets along with shined leather shoes. He had a back T-shirt with a dark green silk vest over it that he could see under his open trendy leather jacket. He looked like he was some kind of Hollywood playboy.

Though he wasn't looking so hot. The new guy was sweating something fierce before he went to the hood of the car to steady himself.

"Whew," he said wiping his brow. "I must still be more out of it then I thought," he said more to himself then to Dean. After he caught his breath, he looked over at Dean. "Am I correct in assuming you're Dean Winchester?"

"That'd be me," he said calmly but alert. Who knew if this guy was like the others and wanted him and Cas dead. He could've just wanted to save him just to have the pleasure all to himself.

He put his blade away and smiled. "I heard your prayer. Want to show me the patient so we could get started?"

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 1<strong>

A/N: There were quite a few things I didn't like about Season 9. I thought it was…okay, good elements and structural ideas but they could've taken it in a whole new different direction. With concepts like Abaddon and Cain as well as fallen angels that were in a celestial prison, they lost grip on where and what they could've put in and taken the story. It's one I'm going to try and take it to. Dean himself bothered me greatly this season and I think he was starting to get a little too full of himself at times; but let me cut myself off there before I get into a rant. First off, that angel approaching Dean is not going to be Gadreel though he will be making his appearance in this story. He's no one that we've seen yet but I found does exist in Angel lore who I think would've been great to use. I think he is more fitting for Dean to be dealing with. I will be splitting the chapters like episodes in two or three parts.


	2. It's Heaven on Earth part 2

Chapter 2: It's Heaven on Earth part two

"Hold on pal. Just who are you?" Dean asked still wary of this guy.

This guy had a calm and patient look still on his face. "What does that have to do with anything?" the stranger asked.

"Maybe the fact that I don't want to let my brother be in the same room as some angel that just came in out of nowhere and ganked two angels in under half a minute."

"And who just saved your life though I think that fact could be left out of the whole thing, right?" he quipped.

"Are you looking for Cas too?" he asked heated.

"Look, I have no desire to strike against your friend Castiel. Truth be told I actually owe him much more than you might realize. I thought that helping the two humans high on his list might be my way of finally repaying my debt. I only came here to see to your brother not to be interrogated. I guess you exaggerated your brother's condition if you would rather have my life story rather than have me save his life. If it upsets you so much then wait for another angel that you do know that won't try to spill your insides all over this hospital to come along."

The angel started to walk away and Dean felt his resolve breaking. This might be his only shot. "Okay!" he said moving forward. "Okay, fine. Keep your personal life to yourself if that's what you want as long as you can help my brother. I'll take you to Sam but you have to agree to one condition first."

"And why would I agree to that?"

"If you really are here to help Sam then it shouldn't matter regardless, shouldn't it?"

The angel folded his arms as he stared Dean down. "What is it?" he yawned out.

* * *

><p>The sight of his brother's irate face had Sam more on edge than happy. He looked like he was ready for a fight rather than here for a visit. "Dean, what's wrong?"<p>

"What's wrong?" he asked incredulously. "How about you listening to this crap about just rolling over and dying? After everything we've been through together you're just going to call it quits now?"

"Now that right there is crap," Bobby said back.

Sam found himself moving to stand in between Dean and Bobby as they turned to argue at one another.

"I'm full of crap?" Dean growled. "For someone who was like a father to him you tell him that he needs to just lie back and die. You're supposed to do everything you can to help him!"

"Oh you mean like selling my soul kind of like you did."

"Damn right I sold my soul for him!"

"Right and that worked wonders didn't it? It made everything fall to hell, literally."

"And we got through it didn't we?" Dean argued back.

"Just how did you do that again? By destroying yourselves to try and keep the other from breaking. You two always do that. You guys are like a never stopping seesaw. One of you is up then down. You could never stay level with one another. Didn't you boys learn anything from what happened to me sticking around? Remember what I said? When it's your time, Go. Now it's Sam's time.

"Oh come on Sam. Why are you even listening to him? Let's just go, right now!"

"Why don't you actually let him decide for himself instead of ordering him around like he's still a little kid?"

Dean didn't say anything else but instead reached into his pocket and drew out a gun. Sam barely had the time to shout for Dean to stop before he let a shot out and hit Bobby. Sam watched as Bobby fell to the ground lifeless.

"Dean! What the hell are you doing? You just shot Bobby!"

"Bobby, wake up Sam! That's not Bobby. See for yourself," he said pointing behind him.

Sam looked back down to the ground and he saw that Bobby's body was nowhere in sight. "What? What's going on here?"

Dean finally seemed to calm himself down. "This is all in your head Sammy. Bobby was the side of you telling you to move on. I'm the side of you that tells you to hang on. I've always been the stronger of the two. I've always been able to pull you back and I'm going to keep doing it no matter what it takes. It's time for you to come back with me."

Sam saw the fire in Dean's eyes. How passionate he was to bring Sam back from death's door. He held out his hand for Sam to take but Sam didn't feel comfort. Something inside him was telling him that this was wrong. If this was his will to live and it was willing to even shoot Bobby, fake or not, without batting an eye then it all had to stop now.

Sam broke into a hard run with Dean in hot pursuit of him calling out his name and for him to stop and come back. Sam kept running off, trying not to look back as he heard the thumps of Dean's feet as he ran after him. Sam soon saw what looked like a cabin up ahead and went for it. Sam pushed the door open and went to slam it. A momentary glance out made him see Dean running for the door too with a predatory look in his face. Sam slammed the door and turned the lock as something hard collided with it. Dean's voice could be heard from the other side yelling for him to open the door and let him in.

"Sammy! Sammy, you open this door right now. You don't know what you're doing!"

Sam lightly backed away before a crackling sound erupted behind him and he saw that a roaring fire was now going in the cabin's fireplace that had been empty before. In front of it were two leather armchairs and in one of them was a man that Sam knew too well.

Death, the Horsemen, was sitting calmly with his usual nonchalant poise. "Hello Sam. It's about time you found your way to me."

* * *

><p>Castiel approached some police officers that were on duty by the park to ask for the nearest pay phone. The phone that Dean had gotten for him was gone thanks to Metatron and he needed to contact Dean as soon as possible. He didn't have any change on him. He never had use or reason to carry around any money before. He did recall seeing a human pushing 0 once before without money so he tried it.<p>

Dean walked out of Sam's room to see that the angel was on the other side of the door still waiting.

"It's done," he said. "Let's go on in."

"Very well then," the angel said as he started to head inside.

Before Dean could follow behind him his phone starting ringing. He looked to see that it was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

The female phone operator's voice sounded. "You have a collect call from" Then a new voice sounded. "Castiel" It was Cas' voice. The female operator's voice was back. "Do you accept the charges?"

Dean looked to the angel who was still waiting for him. "Go on in and take a look at him. I'll be a minute." The angel shut the door and Dean accepted the call. "Cas?" he said as soon as the click happened.

"_It's me Dean_," Cas said from the other line. It felt good to finally hear his voice.

"Damnit Cas, where the hell have you been? I spent the last three days trying to reach you. I called, I prayed and nothing. And since when do you call me collect?"

"_I'm sorry Dean. It's been a very trying three days_."

"Yeah no kidding Sherlock," he said sarcastically. "Where the hell are you anyway?"

"_In some small rural community in Nebraska. I didn't quite catch the name. Why had you been trying to reach me? What's happened_?"

"It's Sam. He's…he's dying. He could really use your help Cas."

"_Dying?_" Cas voice was leaking with concern._ "Did you not stop him from completing the final trial_?"

"I did but he's still dying. So zap on down here. I'm at-

But before Dean could finish telling Cas exactly where he was he had cut him off. "_Dean, I'm sorry but…I can't_."

"What? Why not?"

"_It turns out that Naomi was right, Metatron lied to me. I wasn't performing trials with Metatron, I was procuring ingredients for his spell to expel all angels from heaven. It turns out that there was one final ingredient left that he needed from me. An angel's grace_."

Dean's grip on his phone lessened a little bit. "You're saying that he took your grace? But…wouldn't that mean that you're now.

"_Human_," Cas finished for him. "_Yes. It seems so_." Castiel found himself needing to clear his throat. "_But we can deal with that later. Right now Sam needs our help. Perhaps there is someone else that can help him_."

"Actually someone else came here claiming to want to help Sam just a little while ago. He's with him now."

"_Another angel_?" Dean confirmed it. "_Who is it_?"

"He didn't feel like sharing his name. All he said was that he felt like he owed ya and helping Sammy would be the way to settle his debt. That mean anything to you?"

"_I'm sorry Dean. There are quite a few of my brothers that felt that I was forever in their debt_."

"I think that might've changed though. Our new friend wasn't the first of your dysfunctional family to see me today. These other two angels came by and attacked me looking for you. Said that they and a good many angels are looking for you over what happened. You've got to be careful out there Cas. Without your mojo you're easy game."

"_Thank you Dean and I'm sorry and I can't do anything to help you. It might be risky but I think the best course would be to allow this angel to help your brother. You've proven that you can handle yourself if the situation turns_."

"Thanks, that means a lot," he rolled his eyes. He then spoke softer. "Look Cas, you might not be able to help me but maybe there is something I can still do to help you. After all, you say that you're human now and that means that you're in a whole new ballgame."

* * *

><p>Dean walked in Sam's hospital room as soon as he was done with talking to Cas and making arrangements for some money to be wired to the nearest bus station by him to get him a ticket along with instructions to verify it because he informed the station that Cas wouldn't have any ID to claim them. They would call his cell for confirmation. The bus would drop Cas to a town about a hundred miles away but that was as close as he could get him. Dean offered to pick him up but Cas told him that his brother needed him now.<p>

Dean solemnly opened the door with his head still trying to wrap around the whole idea of the angel now being human. He made a mental note to find Metatron and ring his big fat neck. He closed the door behind him to see the new angel with his brother. The room had been covered with angel warding. If this guy pulled anything then he would keep him trapped here at least until he ran an angel blade through his throat. He had agreed to the terms quite easily saying he had no intention of bringing harm to Sam. The angel was staring down at Sam as he ran a hand up and down in the air over Sam's body. Dean went up to him to see that his other hand was wiping away blood leaking from his nose.

"Hey buddy, are you okay?" He didn't do this out of real concern for the guy but to hang on to what may be his brother's last chance.

He wiped his nose on his sleeve and cleared his throat. "Just a little damaged. The Fall has taken quite a toll on me. My recovery has been very slow."

"Well, sorry about that," he said barely caring at all. Dean's nerves were beyond stressed now. "Now about Sam, can you help him or not?"

The angel's eyes were in a strong focus. "I know before that I said that you might've exaggerated your brother's condition but it seems instead you held back how bad it really was."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your brother's body is breaking not only on a physical level but also on a metaphysical level. Just what happened to him anyway?"

"I can't ask your life story but you could ask for mine and my brother's? Look, can you heal him or not?" he asked impatiently.

"I believe I can."

"Good, do it," he demanded.

"It's not that simple. For what's happened to your brother it won't be as simple as the usual methods of healing. It will require me do something drastic."

"What?"

"I'll need to possess your brother."

Dean was sure he heard wrong. "Run that by me again."

"By possessing your brother I can heal him from the inside out. As it is nothing I can think of can heal him from the outside. At the same time this will help me as well."

"How?"

"Your brother is a strong vessel. My grace will be able to rejuvenate much better and faster than it would in the vessel I have now."

Dean was smelling something fishy here. He wouldn't forget the last angel that wanted his brother for a vessel because he was strong. "So that's your game plan huh?" he growled.

"You did give your word that if any of us helped you then we would have your help in return, did you not? This will both help you and help me."

Dean glared at the angel in front of him. This guy was very calm and he couldn't find any kind of tell or break in his face as he said all that crap but most of the angels he met were celestial robots.

"Yeah well no deal. I don't trust you in the same room without locks in every corner of it so what makes you think I'll trust you with being in my brother?"

The angel just shrugged. "You're right. You can't know if you can trust me but you don't have a lot of time left find another way. Your brother's time is just about up."

"What are you talking about?"

"It doesn't look like your brother will survive till sundown."

"Sam's plugged into all these machines to keep him going."

Not from this," the angel said shaking his head. "Still don't trust me? Then take a look for yourself." He put two fingers on Sam's forehead with one hand and reached for Dean's with his other hand.

* * *

><p>Sam was moving off to sit in front of Death in the armchair next to him.<p>

"I'm sure you're getting off on all of this?" he muttered.

Death hardly reacted. "Don't be like Dean and be snarky and overly self-important with me. Though I will say that you are one of the rare souls that I don't mind coming to collect personally."

Something clicked in Sam's mind. "It was you. Earlier I was running because I felt something coming for me. That was you, wasn't it?"

"So you are the smart one after all," Death quipped in polite amusement.

"And what makes you think that I will let you collect me? What's keeping me from just walking out of here and away from you."

Death didn't even flinch. "Nothing though I doubt you will like the alternative if you do walk out that door. You leave and you will live but all but dead to the world. You might be strong enough to make sense of bits happening around you but you will be lucky if you could even make a twitch in response. Is that really the better alternative?"

At that moment Dean was semi present in some far off corner of the room where he saw his brother chatting with Death.

Sam slowly leaned forward, closer to Death. "Is it true? Is this truly it for me?"

Death fingered the top of his cane. "Hard to grasp isn't it?"

Sam wiped his mouth as he let himself come to grips with everything. "If…if I agree to go with you then can you guarantee me that this really is it? That I won't be brought back? Nothing can reverse it, pull me back; no one can deal it away. That this will truly be it? Can you?"

Death looked him straight in the eye. "I can," he said firmly. His words weren't a promise, they were a truth.

* * *

><p>Dean was snapped out of the connection to find himself back in the hospital room as the angel removed his fingers from their foreheads. The angel pulled back and seemed to hold his head as if he had a migraine but Dean barely acknowledged it.<p>

"Damn it Sammy. What the hell are you thinking?" he growled to himself.

The angel was softly rubbing his temples. "As I said, your brother doesn't have a lot of time. If Death himself is there for him then not even these machines will stop him. He has his arms in position to take hold and grab him. Yet, if I can possess your brother then I can hold off his grip until your brother is well enough from our merge to slip safely away."

Dean's heartbeat was starting to rise as real panic started to set in. If Sam bit the dust this time then that was it. He just couldn't sit back and let his brother just kick the bucket. But to just let this angel, who he still didn't really know anything about, possess his brother? He knew Sam would hate him for eternity. It was then that he realized that he'd rather have Sam alive and hating him then not have him at all.

"Fine," he spat out. "Do it."

The angel nodded. "I will but I still need for him to give me his consent. I think I'll be needing your help with that."

* * *

><p>Sam was going over everything Death had just claimed about his offer. He also remembered everything that both his images of Bobby and Dean had gone over with him in the middle. If he did come back then it wouldn't really be living at all with him as a human jello mold. Who knew the lengths Dean would put himself through to try and piece him back together or if it would even be possible. Bobby was right. Whenever one of them was in trouble he and Dean would always nearly kill themselves to save the other. If he finally was gone for good then maybe Dean could finally have some degree of peace. If anyone deserved peace in his life it was him and Sam found that he wouldn't mind being at peace as well. He could be in heaven and try and track down his parents, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Ash, Pamela, even Jess.<p>

Death stood up from the chair. "Well Sam, what's your final word."

Sam looked up at Death who had extended his hand out. Sam looked at it long and hard before he stood up too. "Okay."

As he went to take hold of Death's hand so they could get going a voice echoed through the room. "Don't do it Sam!"

Sam's hand was inches from grasping Death's when he froze in action and turned his head around. "Dean?" he said in surprise. But then he shook his head. "No, you're not Dean. Not really."

"Yes Sam, I am. It's me. The true blue brand name real deal."

"But, how?"

"That's not important right now. Listen, you can't go through with this. You can't just quit."

"I'm not quitting."

"No? Then what do you call this then?"

"Being pink slipped. Dean, it's over. Life is showing me the door. I'm just going through it with my own two feet instead of letting myself get dragged out kicking and screaming."

"Well not everyone in this building is ready to see you go."

"Oh my," Death said from where he stood. "Well isn't this a pleasant reunion," his voice was laced with surpreme sarcasm but the brothers ignored him.

Sam just shook his head. "But it's not up to them this time. Dean...there's nothing left. If I go back then I'll be alive but not living. I'll be stuck in some hospital bed slowly rotting away maybe for the rest of my life."

"Yes, you'll be alive. And I won't let it come to that. So just, come with me. I'll bring you back. I always do."

"Well maybe that's not your job anymore either. Maybe you don't have to kill yourself to pick up my slack anymore. Dean, I'm done and I know it. You are just going to have to accept it."

"I can't and I won't because it's unacceptable! I'll admit that with all those times I brought you back from the brink they weren't always perfect but you know what got me by them? You. It was you and it will always be you. It always has been Sam and Dean. I can't just be Dean. I tried that before and it didn't work. Please, I'm asking if you will stand by me like you always do?"

"Dean…you don't give yourself enough credit. You can stand on your own. You never tried because you always held onto the hope that I can come back to you. But now…now you won't have that this time. You'll have to make due and I know you better than anyone, you can."

Dean stared at him with wide eyes as his shoulders shagged and the rest of him seem to deflate. "You're really going to go through with this then?"

"I have to move on. You have to move on. This is my choice and I'm asking for you to let me have it. Please." Sam was pleading now. This is not only what he knew was best; it was what he wanted.

Dean was silent for a moment. He glared at the floor before he back up at his brother. He didn't look accepting but he seemed calmer. "I get it. But do you really think I can do it? Just move on and deal with the rest of my life?"

"I know you can," Sam smiled.

"Really?" he pressed. "I need to hear you say it before I can start to believe it."

Sam took him by the shoulder. He nodded. "Dean...Yes."

Dean lightly grasped and tapped Sam's arm as he nodded. It looked like Dean was ready to let him go. A second later, "Thanks," he said in a voice that wasn't his.

Suddenly the grip Dean had on Sam's arm got tighter as a light leaked out of him. Sam tried to pull away and watched in horror as Dean's body was replaced by someone he had never seen before. They soon vanished leaving Death standing there all alone glaring at the spot.

"Those arrogant and spoiled brats," he muttered.

* * *

><p>The daily nurse came into the room for his annual check of the patient's hookup when she saw that the room was painted with strange paraphilia on the walls. The most puzzling sight was unconscious man with a leather jacket on the bed instead of the registered patient.<p>

"Sir?" she said as she bent down to try and shake him awake.

The man started slowly blink open his eyes. "What?' he muttered. "Where am I?"

Suddenly he started coughing a bit and it built up after every second until a small spot of blood shot up from his lips.

"Doctor!" the nurse shouted.

* * *

><p>Dean and the now possessed Sam were walking away some distance from the hospital. Even if Dean didn't know better he could tell from a distance that Sam wasn't himself. The way he carried himself and the look in his eyes was one that his brother would never have on.<p>

"He's a good fit," 'Sam' said as he took in everything with a deep breath. "I can indeed recover fully from all my injuries sustained in the Fall."

"Glad to hear it but what about Sam's injuries? Is everything okay now?" he asked. "Is my brother going to be okay?"

He kept his eyes closed as he kept walking. "There is quite a mess in here," 'Sam' said. "But I found everything I need. I can put him back together alright but it will take some time."

Dean stopped walking. "How much time exactly?"

He stopped too and opened his eyes. "A good while…but there might be a way to speed this along."

"How?"

"I could put myself in a far corner of your brother's mind and give him control. That would mean more of my strength could go into internally repairing your brother. It could probably done within three or four months at the most."

"And what happens after that?"

"Once your brother is healed then I will be fully healed. After that, you can rest assured that I will leave."

The thought of his brother healing and him having the run of his own body was more than okay in his book. Add in the quicker recovery and the angel leaving only made the deal sweeter. "Okay then."

"But…" 'Sam' cut in. "There is one thing you will have to consider."

Dean wasn't liking the sound of this. "What's that?"

"Because I'll be in a far corner of his mind instead of in front, my grip on him will be weakened as a result. If Sam moderately puts his mind to it then he could expel me from his body and if he does then he will die instantly. And considering what we did to get him to agree he will waste no time to push me out."

"And if you stay in control out here, how much time do you think it'll take?"

"I would say…maybe a handful of years, at least." He looked to see Dean breathe out hard. "Though I can do something about that."

"What?"

"I could alter his memories of what happened recently. Make it so he is unaware of both his condition and me. As long as he doesn't discover what happened or what's going on with him then it just might work."

"Then this stays our secret for now," Dean nodded. He was hating himself even more for this but this was for his brother's own good. He couldn't lose him. Not now with all of this stuff now happening.

"I'll be listening in while I'm inside. If you ever need to talk then just use the trigger as you speak to your brother."

"What trigger? How about your name?"

"In these times, I can't have that going around. A nickname for your brother will do for us though you already use 'Sammy' if I'm not mistaken. Just refer to your brother as Samuel. I'm sure that he would think you are hiding behind sarcasm to express annoyance, anger or sadness if you did that."

"Fine whatever," he rolled his eyes before looking serious. "Just make sure that you hold up your end of the bargain or you'll find yourself wishing for the Fall's injuries when I'm through with you."

'Sam' just smiled at him. "Don't you worry about that. Everything will be fine, I promise."

The two found themselves back in the Impala as Dean started to drive off to head for the Interstate. The angel went into the backseat and had laid himself down and everything was silent for a moment before there was the sound of heavy breathing and gasping.

"What?" Sam sputtered as he found himself cramped in the back seat of the car. "What's going on?'

"Sam?" Dean said hopefully.

"Dean?" Sam got himself together and sat up and saw he was indeed in the Impala and they were driving along some highway.

"Welcome back to the world of the living Sammy."

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 2<strong>

A/N: That's the end of this episode. Dean may not like the idea of 'Samuel' being in Sam but he doesn't see any other way to save his brother. Little does he realize that saving Sam is not going to be as 'cut and dry' as all the other times and that should tell you something. What I have in mind were theories I had knocking in my head throughout Season 9 surrounding what this could all mean about the future of Heaven and Hell especially when Kevin hadn't finished translating the Demon Tablet or really started putting a dent in the Angel Tablet. Like they always say: Don't forget to read the fine print.

Next episode will be called Dean's Inferno. Dean and Sam return to the bunker to an unhappy Kevin as they bring in a new guest. Meanwhile, Abbadon begins to make her mark for taking control of Hell from Crowley.


	3. Dean's Inferno

**Then**

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean looking at the sky filled with lights.<p>

"_What is it?" _

"_Angels…they're falling."_

Metatron cutting in Castiel's neck and taking his grace.

Castiel in a phone booth talking with Dean.

"_Metatron lied to me…It turns out that there was one final ingredient left…an angel's grace."_

"…_He took your grace? But wouldn't that mean that you're now-"_

"_Human."_

Castiel is then seen eating food and drinking water.

Dean and Sam with their grandfather

"_Abbadon, who it turns out is a knight of hell."_

"_Knights of Hell are handpicked by Lucifer himself. They are among the first born full blooded demons._

"_So, very pure, very strong._

Abbadon bursting into the church and defeating Sam before attacking Crowley.

"_You know what's worse than time traveling through a closet? Someone thought it was a good idea to make you the King of Hell!" We're going to talk about a regime change."_

"_I am your King!_

Abbadon strikes a bound Crowley.

Kevin looking on helplessly as Crowley snapped his girlfriend's neck.

Kevin shouting in despair as Crowley tells him that his mother is dead.

Dean being held by two angels and then being saved by a new one.

"_I heard your prayer. Want to show me the patient so we could get started_?

Dean is in a hospital room with the angel looking over his brother.

"_Look, can you heal him or not?"_

"_I believe I can." "I'll need to possess your brother."_

Dean and the angel is Sam walking outside.

"_Is my brother going to be okay?"_

"_There is quite a mess in here." "If Sam moderately puts his mind to it then he could expel me." "If he does then he will die instantly." "I can alter his memories."_

"_This stays our secret for now."_

"_If you ever need to talk then just use the trigger." "Samuel."_

Sam waking up in the Impala completely lost and unaware of anything that has happened.

**Now**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: <span>Dean's Inferno<span>

There were two demons before two bodies hanging upside down as they were leaking blood down into two buckets underneath them like a running faucet. The dripping sound echoed though the run down and dark room. The demons then took the buckets now full of blood and poured it into a bathtub that had a fire going beneath it. Some hex bags were floating on the surface and as the blood started to bubble. The demons stood back and bowed their heads.

"It is ready," one of them stated.

They stayed with their heads bowed as a swirl of black smoke circled the tub before diving right into it making a mild splash. Within a few moments a well manicured hand sprung out and gripped the side of the tub. A figure slowly stood up from the bottom of the rub and stepped away. The demons raised their heads to look up into the freshly rebuilt body of Abbadon. She looked down at them before looking out to a dirty window with a smirk on her face.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p>Dean and Sam pulled up to the bunker's entrance in the Impala and they both got out.<p>

"So, I fainted and you just stuck me in the back seat of the Impala for a few days? Just left me there and stood watch?" Sam asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Well I did bring a girl over but she was a little hard to get in the mood with the comatose in my back seat," he quipped. Sam just huffed a bit, completely unamused. "Honestly, I didn't really know what else to do. I was hoping that whatever was with you would just…run its course. Looks like it did."

Sam eyed Dean carefully. Something about his story didn't set right with him. Since when does Dean just sit around when his life is in question? His brother would've been freaking out and have gone through hell and back to see that he was okay. He was hiding something, he just knew it and it felt to him like it was something that he would not like at all. But, for now, he would just have to wait. He would play along…for now.

"All right," he said sounding resigned.

Dean continued. "That and I had my feelers out trying to get a hold of Cas. Called and prayed for all it was worth. Finally was able to reach him after three days of leaving messages in the wind. Well, he reached me from some payphone in Nebraska."

"And you say that Cas is human now too?"

Dean, happy for this steer from his brother's condition, jumped right answering. "Yeah, Metatron went and squeezed out his angel juice. Have it on good authority that the angels aren't happy with him right now. Many of them are looking for blood, his."

Sam nodded in understand but he also thought on what he saw that Dean didn't realize that he had let slip. Somehow he seemed to have first hand confirmation of how the angels were feeling. How would he have that if he was watching over him in the Impala all this time?

"So, what now?"

"I wired him money for a ticket and spending cash. He'll head on over to the bunker as soon as he can."

"Really? You think Cas can really handle taking a solo road trip?"

"He's been on a couple of road trips with us. Hopefully he managed to pick up a few things."

"Yeah, hopefully. And Crowley?" he then asked. "Last thing I remember was still having him in that chair. You kill him?"

"Yeah…believe me there would've been nothing that would've pleased me more with everything going on. But, I thought to myself; what would Sam do?"

Sam made a face. "I would've taken the knife and slashed his throat."

"Okay, well then I did the second thing that you would've done. I locked him up good and tight." Sam looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Hey pain in the ass or not he is still the King of Hell. I figure with someone like that under our lock and key we could go Guantanamo on him and get some juicy fiery intel."

"Where did you stash Crowley anyway?"

Dean waved him over to the trunk and then opened it. "The junk is my trunk."

Sam's eyes widened as he saw Crowley bound and gagged with new warding painted along the interior of the trunk.

They pulled him out of the trunk and made their way to the entrance. They turned the key and moved in dragging the bound demon with them when a crack sounded off. Sam and Dean looked around to find an arrow lodged in the railing in front of them.

"Stay there?" said a frantic and panicked voice.

"Kevin?" Dean called out.

Kevin came out from around the corner below the stairs with a crossbow in his hand. "Dean? Sam? Oh my god, I could've killed you."

Dean looked at the bolt stuck in the railing about a foot away from where they even were. "Sure you would've Katniss," he grunted in annoyance as he resumed in pulling Crowley into the bunker. "What happened with you?"

"The bunker," Kevin gasped out. "Everything just started lighting up and go crazy. That buzzer went off and this console went out like a Christmas tree. I tried getting out but the door wouldn't open."

Dean considered everything that Kevin said. It must've been because of the angels falling. It must've triggered some kind of fail-safe lockdown just like one of those high-tech government bunkers. It only must've let it go when he used the key to unlock the main door. Sometimes he just loved this place.

"Glad to see you're alright Kevin," said Sam closing the door behind him.

"Sam?" Kevin looked at him like he was seeing a ghost. "You're alive?"

Sam narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Yeah. I am."

"But, the last trial, I thought you had already started it?" he asked still looking lost.

So was Sam. "Didn't Dean tell you that he stopped me from finishing the last trial?"

"You were supposed to-

Dean jumped in before Kevin could finish. He couldn't have the kid say something that would have Sam start digging into everything so early into his recovery. "Yeah well with everything going on I didn't really have it in me to make a status update on Facebook. But Sam's fine Kevin. I'm sure he appreciates that you were worried about him."

Kevin narrowed his eyes over at Dean before he paid notice to the bundle they were carrying in.

Crowley was shoved into the bunker's dungeon where he was placed into a chair dab in the middle of a great Devil's Trap. The bag over his head was ripped off and he blinked before taking in his new surroundings.

"Comfortable?" Dean asked with his usual wit.

"Oh you're the picture of hospitality aren't you Dean?" he muttered back. "Though I do have to say this does beat the tight space of the trunk in your clunker."

"My baby loves you to. Now listen Crowley, this could work one of two ways. You be good, follow the rules and tell us what we need and want to know then you might get a chocolate in your pillow. Be bad and break the rules and," Dean pulled out the knife. "you might lose a few fingers."

"I love when you talk dirty," Crowley said unaffected. "You really think I'm intimidated by all of this?"

"Maybe not but we'll let you have some time to think about what chances you can afford to take now. C'mon Sam," he said before turning his back and walking out.

Sam gave Crowley a final glare before he followed his brother out and then they closed the door behind him leaving Crowley in the dark and silent room.

They got back to the bunker's study where Kevin bared down on them instantly. "What the hell is Crowley doing here? Why haven't you stabbed him yet?! Why aren't you stabbing him right now!"

Dean held his hand out to try and settle him down. "Okay, look calm down Kevin."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" He killed my girlfriend! He killed my mom!" Kevin reached into Dean's bag and grabbed an angel blade that was in it and began to move for the dungeon but Dean blocked him. "Get out the way Dean!" he growled.

"No," he said defiantly.

"Out of the way Dean!" Kevin roared louder. When he still wouldn't move Kevin tried to break for it but Dean grabbed him and Kevin moved in a fashion that looked like he would actually stab Dean.

Dean shoved Kevin into a nearby wall and held him firm against it as he tried to struggle free. Sam gave a shout for Dean to let Kevin go but he ignored it. "Look, I know that this is hard for you to get but you've got to stop and relax. Alright, the world is in crisis mode and it doesn't need you to add another to the list, alright! Now, settle down." Kevin kept his glare on Dean but the resistance he showed against him started to weaken. "Believe me, if I could I would let you drive that blade through Crowley's neck and have a beer ready for you. It sucks but right now we need Crowley alive but I promise that as soon as we can you'll be the first to know."

Kevin was let loose from his grip and Dean backed away a step but he was still ready to charge and hold him off again if he needed to. Kevin was breathing hard and still glaring at Dean for a few seconds before he angrily threw the blade back on the table.

"Have it your way," he said before silently adding, '_Like you always have to_.'

"We're cool?" Dean asked. Kevin didn't answer him but he went to go and sit down where the Demon and Angel tablets were. "Okay then. Now, what's been going on since I left? You made any dent in those things?"

Kevin huffed harshly through his nose but he started talking. "A bit. I managed to crack some more of the lines regarding the Trials. It turns out there was a warning."

"A warning? You couldn't have told us that before all of this?" Dean snapped.

"It was on the part of the tablet that Crowley had with him!" Kevin snapped back.

Sam jumped to Kevin's defense. "Dean! It's not Kevin's fault! He couldn't translate what he didn't have so lay off him!"

Dean was fuming but he backed off. Sam had a good point. It wasn't Kevin's fault.

"Okay. Still it wouldn't have killed God to mention the warning at the beginning rather than the end of the whole Trials thing."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's attitude.

"What was the warning Kevin?" he asked curiously.

"I was only able to translate some of it and it embellished on some parts but the gist of it starts off saying that once the Trials are started by someone then they can't back out of them. It's all or nothing as soon as the first trial is done." Kevin looked like he was going to say something else but seemed to cut himself off.

Sam and Dean noticed it. "What?" "What's wrong?"

"Oh," Kevin said shaking his head. "Sorry, it's just that it went on to say that if participant fails then the Trials can't be attempted again for another six hundred years."

Dean hoped he heard wrong. "Six hundred years?!"

"Yeah," Kevin droned out. "He did say in the beginning that the trials weren't for the faint of heart."

"Awesome."

Dean knew that this was all screwed. He hoped that now that they knew what the Trials were that he could do them himself like he was supposed to especially with Crowley as their prisoner but it turns out that they couldn't. He couldn't help but think how typical that was.

"There's a bit more to the warning but I haven't decoded it yet."

"What more can there be? And what about the angels?" Sam asked. "Did you find anything about that spell Metatron used?"

Kevin shook his head. "I found some things about the spell but not really too much about anything else. I was a little busy freaking out about being trapped in this underground lair until who knows when." He couldn't help but go back into his former attitude.

"Yeah," Dean said feeling a little awkward about that situation. He could only imagine Kevin spending the last few days freaking out here alone with no way out. "Sorry about that."

A small silence then came up between the three of them.

"I better go and unpack. Get my computer and see if the angels are getting up to anything," Sam said breaking it.

"I'll get on the horn and put the word out about this to anyone I can. We're going to need all hands on deck for this one." Dean said before reaching for his phone.

Sam left the room and as soon as he did Kevin rounded on him.

"What the hell is going on Dean? How is Sam still alive?"

"What do you mean how? He just told you. I stopped him from completing the trial and saved his life." That wasn't a lie at all even if he didn't mention the other minor details.

Kevin didn't seem to let it go. "Cut the crap Dean. The warning I translated about how the trials couldn't be stopped once started. It warned that whether in victory or defeat the one who has taken the trials will have their life forfeited. That means whether Sam did the third trial or not, he was going to die."

Oh no. This was bad. He couldn't have Sam know about this. The only reason he believes that he recovered on his own was because he thought finishing the trial would call for his life. If he knew this then he would know that Dean lied and did something. If he learned that an angel was inside him and pushed him out then he would die.

"Listen to me Kevin," he warned him. "Whatever you do, do not tell Sam about that. No matter what do you understand me?"

Kevin folded his arms. "Why should I? What's going on?"

"That is none of your business alright," he spat out. "Just promise me here. Please."

Kevin glared at Dean for a bit before he nodded. He wasn't doing this for him. He was doing this for Sam. Of the two of them he actually liked Sam the most. At least he had some idea of what he was going through. Dean sometimes didn't seem to care less unless it interfered in what they needed from him.

* * *

><p>Castiel was sitting in a bench at a bus station just staring ahead of him lost inside his own mind. The bus that would take him to Kansas wasn't set to depart until three days from then. Dean had been able to order him a ticket for him to pick up and apparently he had ordered some money to be a part of the pickup as well. He had contacted Dean a while ago and was relieved to hear that Sam was alive. Castiel asked for more details but Dean insisted that he should focus on making the trip to their bunker and they would talk more when he arrived. Castiel assured Dean that he had made journeys before but Dean simply argued, 'Not like this one.'<p>

He still didn't quite understand as it didn't seem like it would be hard. Until his stomach started turning and hurting him again. He couldn't be sure but he guessed that he must be hungry again so he needed food. He asked someone nearby where he could get something to eat and the semi-pleasant woman pointed to a restaurant that was a little further down the road from the station. Inside he gazed at the menu at a loss for what exactly he should have. He saw an image of a cheeseburger with fries that matched what he had occasionally seen Dean eat and that seemed to always be enough for him so he got that for himself. It wasn't the first time he ate this as during the Apocalypse he had consumed multitudes of them but they were merely a means to an end rather than a pleasant experience. He didn't even remember if he had even tasted anything during that experience. When he received his food and then took his first bite he began to taste the flavor of the meat coupled with the cheese, lettuce, tomato and bread.

"This is good," he said simply as he went to take another bite.

* * *

><p>Abbadon was in a new tight leather outfit with her hair styled and out. She looked great which was in contrast with her mood. She was livid and it was plain to see on her face. She lightly paced before a handful of demons that were silent as she did so. Every so often they gave a slight tremor as she looked at them.<p>

"You know who I am," she stated while she continued her pacing. "You all know what I am. My old lackey Bruce here says that you're all slimy, power-hungry opportunists."

The demons looked over at her with a sort of nervous gleam in their eyes as she walked passed each one of them. Either she didn't notice or she didn't care because she kept going.

"So maybe one of you could tell me: What the HELL happened to Hell?" she said as she looked at each of the five of them separately in the face. "And to Demons?" she kept going as she went over to one of them that was possessing an old woman. "I mean, you call _that_ a meatsuit?"

The crossroad demon showed off her red eyes. "I closed seventy two deals last year. Kids love grandma," she said smug and proud.

"That's the problem," she said not impressed in the slightest. "Deals. We're paying, for what we should be Taking. Who put Crowley in charge?" The demons stayed silent. Abbadon impatiently roared. "What's the matter, hellhound got your tongue?! You took orders from him!"

"He's the king." the crossroads demon tried to explain.

"He's a salesman," Abbadon shot back. "A King fights. A king conquers! A king does more than sit around reading contracts!" She then stood back to look at them all. "Your king has made you weak. I remember a time where all talk of demons were always half whispered like we would jump from the shadows if we were spoken about too loudly. Now! Now…we're stories that second rate hunters talk about over drinks. Capturing and exorcising us like its some kind sport activity. It's time to teach all the hunters, all the demons and all the angels with their clipped wings that hell isn't a business or a franchise. Hell is Hell! If they stand in the way then they will burn."

"How?" asked one of the demons curiously.

"We remind them. All of us! I can train you. I can get you new bodies! And we strike! First we move on the hunters! Especially the Winchesters!" Abbadon narrowed her eyes at their reactions. "You flinch at the sound of their name. They should flinch at the thought of us! They should tremble to you! They're humans! We're demons and its time to make them remember that."

The demons seemed energized at the thought of having the mighty Sam and Dean Winchester tremble and flee at the sight of them. It made them feel powerful already.

"And what about Crowley? the crossroad demon asked.

"The king is dead, Long live the Queen," she whispered in a manner of a royal declaration.

The crossroad demon let out a nervous laugh. "Well…no offense honey. But we thought you were dead until about a week ago. A lot of us are afraid of Crowley, many of us still are. So…prove that Crowley is really gone and, maybe, this scheme of yours just might work." Abbadon smirked at her. That was actually a semi-useful tip. "Or not," the crossroad demon said deflating her smirk. "Personally, I always thought you knights were overrated."

Abbadon simply grabbed the demon by the throat. "You go to hell. You tell everyone and everything there that things are going to change…for the worse." Abbadon then banished the demon and released the cold dead husk of the meatsuit to the floor.

Abbadon looked to the four demons left. "Let's get to work."

Over in Norfolk, Virginia by a naval base four naval officers were walking away from the front gates and were heading to a bus stop a short distance away. Three of them were standard while the fourth was a little on the chubby side.

"I can't wait to get home and see my little girl. The last time I saw her was when she was six months," one said.

"Really?" said another one. "Long time. Tell you what, before you walk through that front door to all those hugs and kisses why don't we head down to Floyd's and have a toast. On me."

The other two immediately supported that idea. The first one's smile widened. "Really? Thanks guys."

The sound of a heavy engine was heard and they saw a blue bus pulling up for them. The doors opened and they stepped in with good spirits. There were only four passengers onboard not counting the driver.

"Wow, that was fast," that officer said to the driver as he walked in.

The driver raised their head to show that it was Abbadon. "Express service only for the best."

The four other people rose from their seats and walked down the aisle and after the officers put their bags away they moved into the nearest seats thinking they wanted to get off when the four of them soon surprised them by their necks grabbed and getting shoved to the windows or down into the seats.

"Hey!" "Let go!" "What are you doing!" They choked out.

The four attackers opened their mouths as began to leave their vessels to possess these men. Three of the demons already made their way into their new bodies but the demon holding the chubbier one had her path blocked by Abbadon who grabbed the black smoke and shoved it back into his original body.

"No, no." she said to the demon's surprised expression. "We're not settling for less than perfect on my watch. What do you think boys?" she asked as the three other officers stepped up with their eyes now jet black.

The final officer was breathing frantically and his anxiety and fear worsened when Abbadon pulled out a knife. "No, no, please!" the man pleaded.

Abbadon just had a nonchalant look on her face as she slashed the guys throat. "Don't worry," she said as she began to wipe the blade clean. "Should be some better choices inside. Time to gear up."

* * *

><p>Sam was in the study looking through files in his computer while Kevin was making some notes not too far away from him. Sam noticed off the corner of his eye that Kevin seemed to be trying to sneak glances at him without him knowing. Whenever it looked like Sam would look at him Kevin would look back down and pretend that he was still working.<p>

Sam caught him doing it for like the fifth time before he decided to call him out. "Alright, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Kevin said trying to play it off like it was nothing.

"You've been staring at me since as soon as I sat down. What is it?"

"Nothing. It's nothing Sam. Just…are you okay?"

"I fine," he answered puzzled why Kevin would ask that.

"Are you sure? You really don't feel-"

"Sammy," Dean's voice called out. "Where are you?"

Kevin dropped it and immediately went back to work leaving Sam more confused.

"Over here," Sam called out. Dean walked over with his eyes on his phone. "What's up?"

"I've been trying to get the word out to some of Bobby and Rufus' old contacts around here…but no one's answering."

"They could just be busy. What with the angels falling and now Crowley missing from hell they might have a lot to do," reasoned Sam.

"At the same time?" Dean pointed out. "I've tried like five and I keep getting voicemail. I don't like it."

"You think something might be up?"

"I don't know. I want to check it out. The closest one is Eddie Fisher. He's over by Hannibal a few hours from here."

"Yeah, I remember him. He's the one that likes to grow all those demon warding herbs and plants, right? Alright, let me go grab my things and we'll head out." Sam said closing his laptop.

Dean looked hesitant. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I mean…you might not be 100% yet. Maybe you should take it easy for a few days."

"What do you mean? I feel fine."

"Those trials really did a number on you. There's no shame in taking some time off. I can handle things for while."

Sam looked from his brother to Kevin with a suspicious gleam in his eyes. "Is there something going on here that you two aren't telling me? You two have been acting weird around me ever since I woke up."

The two of them shared a look. Kevin was still beyond angry with Dean and a part of him wanted to tell Sam what he found and what Dean had said or not said about Sam surviving the outcome of failing the trials but he could see warning in Dean's eyes that he could understand to mean that he should keep his trap shut. The memory of Dean's grip on his arm from earlier was still fresh as was the throb coming from it that he's had since. So he didn't say anything and would leave Dean to try and dig his way out himself of whatever was going on.

"It's just those last few days of you being out had us worried. You gave us all quite a scare there Sammy. You can't blame us for being concerned about you. It was pretty touch and go for a minute."

"Well it wasn't. I'm fine…honestly." Sam could feel that Dean was sincere when he said that he had him worried but he felt they were overdoing it. He honestly felt fine. Aside from some foggy things in his memory he felt even better than he did during the trials. "Dean, I spent days in the back seat asleep. The last thing I need now is more rest."

Dean still looked a little tense but he visibly relented. "Alright. Grab your stuff and I'll warm up the car." Sam threw him one last confused look before he headed off back to his room. "How's the translating going?" Dean asked Kevin who had his face back in the Demon Tablet.

"Slow," he just said without looking at Dean.

"Well keep at while we're gone. The last thing we need is more surprises."

"Sure, whatever."

Dean could feel the attitude practically oozing from Kevin but he felt that could only deal with so many problems at one time. He hoped that some time would help the kid cool off.

The Impala was cruising down the Interstate with very little traffic in sight which is how Dean liked it. It gave him free reign to ride the stress away. Sam was looking up how things were in the area when he gave a start.

"What the hell?" he said.

"What? What is it?" Dean asked looking over at him.

"A bulletin just went out to Hannibal police. Firefighters were responding to a call about a fire and they reported a murder. At Eddie's address."

"What?"

When the boys finally reached Eddie Fisher's house night had fallen but the whole place was lit up like Christmas. There were firefighters, police officers and coroner officials on the scene with a good crowd beyond the crime scene tape. Sam and Dean had changed into their suits and showed their fake federal IDs and made their way in.

"Agent's Holt and Wilson" Dean said as he and Sam went over to the head officer, a middle aged woman.

"Lt. Anita Grossman. You boys arrived fast. The fires only went out an hour ago."

"We were in neighborhood," Dean wittingly said. "So what happened here?"

"A hell of a shitshow, that's what. The fire department got a number of calls about a lot of smoke rising from here by a few passing people. They arrived to find the back yard had been set alight. We found some traces of melted broken glass and a faint smell of gasoline like someone went and molotov'd everything." Sam and Dean saw that Fisher's renowned garden was now nothing but ash. "The firemen went into the house to see if there was anyone still in here to get away from the smoke when they stumbled onto this."

She led the two of them into the house and they nearly dropped their jaws at the sight. There were bullet holes everywhere and lots of turned over and destroyed furniture.

"Looks like a mini skirmish broke out. The bullets found were no sporting good sells either. They were military class armor piercing rounds. The guy inside didn't stand a chance." She then led them to the kitchen where there was a blood red stained tarp over a body. "This guy wasn't just shot, he was decimated. He had a shotgun close by but the shells inside were full of rock salt."

Dean and Sam looked over at one another. This was obviously some kind of hit. Demons had killed Eddie Fisher. But whoever the demons behind this were, they were not fooling around.

* * *

><p>In an alley late at night a guy was wandering around nervously as he looked at his phone. He flagged a man that was walking by over.<p>

"Hey buddy. Can you help me out? I'm lost and my phone is not helping me at all. Do you know how to get to Palm Avenue?"

The stranger shook his head. "Sorry buddy. I don't know the way around here too well."

"Thanks," the nervous guy said with a bit of venom. "I guess I can try waiting at that bus stop I saw a few blocks back."

"Might be best," agreed the other guy. "Best of luck," he said waving him off.

When the nervous guy's back was turned the other guy watched him walk off with a small smirk. He looked around and saw no one around and opened his mouth to show his set of vampire fangs. He quietly followed after the guy and pegged him for easy prey. The guy was mumbling to himself and didn't seem to notice him at all only making the vampire more confident. The guy turned a corner and the vampire picked up the pace to jump him when a needle came out and stuck inside his chest as soon as he turned. It was a syringe needle and the vampire realized that it had been full of dead man's blood because his body was going numb. He soon found himself on his knees to look up at his prey no longer with a nervous or aggravated face but a smirking one as he had a machete ready.

"My luck is always the best," he said before he swung and took the vamp's head.

The hunter cleaned off the blood from his machete when someone clapped behind him. Abbadon was there lightly giving a sarcastic show of applause.

"Bravo, nice work there. Though I must say not the best choice for a final one liner."

Before the hunter could react he was clunked on the head by one of Abbadon's fully armed and equipped soldier demons.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 3<strong>

A/N: Abbadon's speech was one of my favorite scenes from this season so I kept the gist of it. Abbadon was such a fun villain to watch that I was a little put out that she bit it so soon. I don't think I'll let her be bitten so soon this time around. In fact, she'll be having a more central role with everything that is happening now. After this episode things will begin diverting more from the plot of the original season 9. I thought the first two episodes were a good starting point but they went off a good trail. The Then and Now sequence at the beginning; I thought it might help bring the feel of a real episode into the mix. Did any of you like it? Should I keep it? I'd like to hear how you think this is going so far.


	4. Dean's Inferno part 2

Chapter 4: Dean's Inferno part two

The hunter Abaddon captured had water thrown at his face to wake him up. He found that he was standing up with his arms raised as his wrists were bound in rope and hanging from an industrial crane hook. They were in some kind of condemned factory or warehouse.

"Rise and shine," one of the demons said as he spilled another cup of water on him.

The hunter coughed a little before he spat the water in his mouth back at the demon. The demon snarled and moved to hit him but his arm was gripped and held back by Abbadon.

"We just got him to be conscious, I don't want to have to wait again."

"Yes mam," the demon obediently stepped back in a manner fitting the meatsuit he had.

She looked over at another one of the demons. "He's really the one?" The demon nodded to her. "Doesn't look like much." Abaddon said as she walked over. "Jeffrey Cranston, my boy here says that you are quite the intelligent and fearless hunter."

Jeffrey chuckled lightly to himself. "I'm flattered to have a hot chick go through so much just to meet me. Going for coffee would've been more than enough."

"Though from where I'm standing," she said as if he hadn't spoken at all. "You're not too much to look at. But I am hoping you have more to say than those other hunters we visited. Tell me how I can reach the Winchesters."

"Sam and Dean? Why on earth would I tell you that?"

"So you can spare a great deal of pain and have mercy killing instead."

Jeffrey smirked smugly over at Abaddon. "I'd like to see that. Think what you will sweetcheeks but I don't break easy and better babes than you have tried."

Abaddon gave him a smirk before she strongly backhanded him across his right cheek. "You see…this is what I can't wrap my mind around. How demons have allowed you hunters to think that you could just joke and laugh at us like we're beneath you. I mean, you're our prisoner and you talk as if you're still in control of everything. Back in the good old days you hunters would only be brave enough take one of us on if you had a group with you. Now you're all by yourself against a few of us and you show no fear. I have to ask…why?"

"Why? Because you demons are nothing to fear. You're nothing but glorified spirits that managed to crawl out of your fiery pits. You aren't anything special from any common ghost. Me, I'm not the kind to be afraid of ghosts."

"Oh…you will be. I guarantee you, I'll put the fear of God into you. Well not God exactly but something much better."

"Do your worst then. I'm sure I don't look like much but I'm not an easy nut to crack. I'm not telling you anything."

Abaddon smiled at him. "Okay then. Bring them in," she called out behind her.

The three other demons with Abbadon each brought in someone forcibly into view. One was a young woman who was crying to be let go, one was a young man perhaps who just reached his twenties and the other looked like a middle aged man.

"What…what is this?" Jeffrey chocked out before the demon next to Abbadon went and gagged his mouth tight with a cloth.

"You don't crack, well, I say that everyone does. You just have to know where to make the hits." Abaddon reached into her pocket and pulled out a hunting knife. "Bring the boy."

The boy was pushed forward and then forced to lay on his back on top of a nearby table.

"Please, no, stop," he pleaded as he tried to struggle against the demon's grip.

Abaddon twirled the knife in her hands as she made her way slowly to him. "You want my worst, fine. Maybe some good old fashion demon style stabbing, carving and skinning will fix your attitude hunter. After that we'll see if you're ready to tell me what I want to know. If not…there are two more volunteers."

Jeffrey's screams were muffled by the gag on his mouth. He wanted to say that that boy didn't have to get hurt but nothing was heard but hard grunting. The boys screams soon filled the room and tears started spilling from the hunter's eyes. He tried to turn away but demon near him went over and angled his head so he could watch every second of the boy's torture.

* * *

><p>The brothers thought it was too late to make the long drive back to the bunker so they checked into a motel nearby, not that they were in the right mind to drive for hours in the middle of the night. Dean was silently cleaning his gun as Sam looked more this whole situation.<p>

"Hey Dean," Sam called out. "I think I found something."

"What?"

"Well, I checked the local news around the areas of all those hunter contacts of Bobby's and there were scores of hits about intense murders."

"Intense? How intense is intense?"

"They were pulverized with bullets, bound and carved like turkeys and one was burned alive bound in a chair. It looks like Eddie wasn't the only one to get demon visits."

Dean tried not to flinch at the thought of all those good people getting killed like that. If it really was demons then that made it his fault. He was the one who stopped Sam from completing the trial and if he didn't then every demon would be locked up tight in hell right now and none of this would've happened.

"How the hell are the demons doing this? These guys aren't idiots, they would have demon proofed themselves up a Fort Knox."

"I'm not sure but I think I might have found a clue. Yeah, so, what was found at Eddie's house, those military grade shells had me thinking. So I searched into any possible thefts or crimes involving the military or national guard and I found something weird in Norfolk. Close to their naval outfit center there was a bus found with four bodies. One of them a naval officer going on leave was found with his throat slashed and there were three bodies with fatal wounds that the coroner is saying look months old."

"Demon meatsuits?"

"Looks like it. There was also a fourth body like that found by the entrance to the center's weapon's closet. The base has put out an APB on four of their soldiers that have appeared to have gone missing. Three others that were on leave with the victim and a guard within the facility that was assigned to that weapon's closet."

"What, so demons decide to go into a base, steal four military bodies and take five finger discounts on some hardware? Then they go navy SEAL on a few hunters? What the hell?"

"I don't know, I guess. What I don't get is why?"

Dean's phone then starting ringing. He went over and looked at the caller id. "Hey, it's Jeffrey. Said he was wrapping up some vamp kills but would look into all of this when he was done," he said before answering. "Jeffrey, tell me what you got man?"

"_What he's got is a little slice of Hell_."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Who is this?"

"_Oh Dean, don't tell me you've forgotten me already. After all, you and your brother were all I thought about after you diced me up and buried me in a box_"

Dean's blood went cold. "Abaddon," he growled. Sam looked over at his brother in shock.

"_So there actually more to you than just your looks and 'give em hell' attitude after all_," she dug.

Dean started pacing. "You sound the same. I thought Sam BBQ'd your hot ass."

"_What can I say, fire never really did it me," she answered back. "Anyway, there is someone here that wants to speak to you_."

There was a small silence before a new voice sounded from the phone.

"_Dean, please. I'm sorry. I need help_!"

"Jeffrey," he gasped out.

Abaddon put the phone back to herself. "_You and your brother are hard to find, I'll give you that. It took me a few tries but I finally found one of your hunting buddies able to help. He put up a tough guy routine but it wasn't before long he couldn't give me your numbers fast enough. Hunters have grown greatly overrated, haven't they?"_

"Let him go Abaddon!" Dean ordered.

"_Now listen here_," she said getting down to business. "_I know you have Crowley. We haven't had the best history with trades but we'll give it another shot. You give that upstart to me and I'll give you this bundle of nerves. I'll even do you one better, I'll take him dead or alive. I just need Crowley's corpse anyway. You have one day to give me his carcass or poor Jeffrey here stays with me._"

Dean listened further before he hung up the phone and glared at his feet.

"Dean?" Sam said trying to understand what had happened. "What did Abaddon say?"

Dean looked over to his brother, a dark look descended over his eyes. "Abaddon wants Crowley. She says that we give him to her then we get Jeffrey back alive."

"It was her. Abaddon is behind those hits." Sam couldn't help but feel guilt for failing to seal hell up. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, we're not going to give Crowley up. He's too important to just hand to that bitch."

"So we just leave Jeffrey to Abaddon then? Abbadon went after him and the others to get to us."

"Of course not Sammy, c'mon. We're going to go and save Jeffrey and then we're going to carve our way into that hell skank."

"Dean, did you forget that we tried that before. We used the knife on her and she just went and got back up!"

"Then we'll have to come up with plan. What do we know about Knights of Hell?"

"That they're damn near difficult to kill," Sam answered.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Thanks genius. What else do we know?" Dean's eyes widened a bit. "What do _you_ know?"

"No more than you Dean."

"Sure about that Samuel?" he said carefully.

Sam's raised his eyebrow. "Did you just-"

Sam didn't finish as he was cut off when his eyes glowed blue and his whole demeanor changed.

"You rang?" Angel!Sam asked.

"Yeah…did you happen to be listening?"

The angel nodded. "A bit. So, one of the knights has survived then."

"What do you know about them?" Dean asked eager for some real indepth intel on killing Abbadon.

"They are no ordinary demons, that's for sure. Shortly before Lucifer was defeated and sealed in hell he brought forth an elite guard of 18 ruthless and powerful demons."

"The Knights," answered Dean.

The angel nodded. "They were a force to be reckoned with. Abaddon was among their first recruits and she had a love of battle if I'm not mistaken. An entire garrison of angels engaged three of them including her and they all fell while only slaying one of them. Eventually it was decided that the archangels would handle them personally. The seven archangels engaged the seventeen of them in battle and when it was over only Michael, Gabriel and Raphael were left."

Dean couldn't help but feel a little awed there. They were dicks but the archangels were super powered dicks and even they had a hard time against the Knights of Hell.

"But they can be killed, right?"

The angel nodded Sam's head. "Yes…they can because for all their power they are still just demons. However, they won't be slain as simple as other demons would be. Your Kurds dagger would slay her or an angel blade would but it must be drawn into the knight's heart. Destroy the heart and the knight will die. A simple stab as you're used to will just stun them for a slight moment."

That explained why Abaddon went down when Dean stabbed her but not out.

"Well, thanks for the tip there. I appreciate it."

"For helping me recover, it was the least I can do."

Dean couldn't help but feel a new wave a guilt. The tricks and the lies that he's pulled on his brother, it was all for Sam's own good. He just had to keep telling himself that enough times and the guilt would go away soon enough.

"Speaking of which, how is Sammy doing?"

"Your brother's recovering surely but slowly. He is still far from safely out of Death's hands. It will still take some time."

"But he will be fine, right."

He nodded. "Of course, though I would advise that you be careful about who finds out about Sam's former condition. Your young friend back at your bunker nearly had Sam on the course to discovering that something interfered with his death. If he digs further into his memories then he could unlock the moment I possessed him and he will then try to push me out."

"Don't worry, Kevin won't say anything. I'll make sure of it."

"And Castiel? If I'm not mistaken then you informed him about Sam's condition and of my interference, correct? What if he mentions something?"

"He won't," Dean insisted.

"Are you sure?"

"I know it," he said sternly.

The angel relented. "Very well. You better hope that you are right for you know the consequences if you're wrong. You could also work more on how you approach or defer from the topic of his recovery. You keep acting like there is something to hide and your brother will find it."

The angel left it at that when the irises of Sam's eye's glowed again and Sam seemed to have control again.

He looked confused. "What were we just talking about?"

"About Abaddon," Dean laughed off. "Sorry if debriefing you isn't stimulating," he laughed off with a hint of sarcasm. "While you were off in La-La land I actually came up with a plan."

Sam just rolled his eyes. "Fine, what's your plan?"

* * *

><p>It was mid-day when Sam and Dean pulled up close to the factory that Abaddon told them to meet. They got out of their seats and went to grab two hunter rifles and angel blades and the knife from the trunk. They also loaded their guns with clips of the new devil's trap bullets that they spent a good deal of the night carving.<p>

"I still think this is a terrible plan," Sam said for the tenth time.

"We know the bullets work on her. They should work again and this time we won't cut off her head. We'll cut out her heart." He just hoped the angel was right on that one.

"And what about the others? From that report in Norfolk, Abaddon isn't alone."

"We can handle a few demons. Abaddon is the problem. Now let's go get Jeffrey out of there."

The two of carefully went into a side door and peered inside. Once they were sure that the coast seemed to be clear they entered and carefully paced themselves. The main cargo area was empty but Sam noticed something off in a corner of the room and directed Dean to it. They went over to see that there was something under a tarp and it was soaked with blood. They removed the tarp and jumped back in fright and disgust.

"Oh god," Sam whispered.

Dean glared and snarled. "That no good psychotic bitch."

Three bodies, just ordinary people off the street from the look of them, were under that tarp. One of them looked carved and flayed beyond near recognition. The other two looked like they had been put under a mess of pain before they were just killed. Doubts in the two of them were gone. Now all that mattered was making sure that Abaddon didn't walk away from this alive.

"She so needs to die," Dean grumbled.

Sam covered the bodies again unable to bear looking at them any longer. "Let's keep looking."

Dean grabbed his arm. "Wait," he whispered. "Hear that?"

There was a soft sound coming from up ahead. It sounded muffled. Sam and Dean carefully moved towards it and found a door that the sound was leaking off from. The two of them kicked the door in and readied to fire but instead found a mostly vacant office with Jeffrey tied up and gagged in the center of it. Jeffrey was struggling against his ropes and was screaming and crying through his gag. They took a flask of holy water and splashed it at him to check and went to cut him loose when he passed the test.

"Hey Jeff, you okay?" Dean asked as he took the gag off him.

"Get me the hell out of here," Jeffrey cried as soon as the gag was off. "Now. They're still here."

"Where? Where the hell are they?"

"Out there! Everywhere!" Jeffrey was now pacing as he looked out the office's window and started breathing rapidly. "We have to get out!" He looked like he was on the verge of heavy tears. "Those…people. Their screams."

"Whoa, whoa," Dean said trying to get him to settle down. "Calm down. We'll get out of here but first we have to deal with the demons. Now, we'll need your help to do that, okay?"

Jeffrey slowed his breathing a little but he still looked shaken. He nodded regardless.

"How many are there?" Sam asked.

"Five. The woman though…she's the worst one."

"Don't worry," said Dean. "We'll handle her."

Suddenly gunshots were heard and the three of them ducked as bullets burst in and shot the wall opposite them. Sam carefully moved off to the side of the window to see two men dressed in military apparel and with two assault rifles in their arms.

"Two demons are out there," he called.

"We can handle them." Dean called out.

"With assault rifles," Sam said back.

"Awesome," Dean said in response. "Look, Sam take Jeffrey through the back and get to the car. I'll draw their fire."

"Dean," Sam started to protest.

Dean didn't let him start to argue when he ducked and ran.

"Just get him out of here!" he called back.

Dean ran off to a place where he would have decent cover and then let some shots out at the demons from his hunter rifle. The shots hit their chests head on but they didn't stop moving. They just drew their assault rifles and opened fire on Dean as they kept up the advance. Dean ran off before he could be deadmeat. They directed their rifles to follow after him and Dean jumped to avoid getting pelted by the new wave of rapid fired shots.

"Oh hell," he grunted as he hit the floor.

He lifted his head to two black leather shoes clicking as they moved towards him. He looked up to see Abbadon calmly walking up to him. Dean immediately took his rifle and made a shot at her to try and trap her. The bullet hit her in the chest but she didn't seem affected. Abbadon just smiled and opened her jacket to show a military grade bulletproof vest underneath.

"Caviler," she then re-buttoned. "I love the future. So much better toys to play around with."

* * *

><p>Back with Sam and Jeffrey they moved quietly through the dark halls until the shots were heard from the outside. Jeffrey got freaked out and just made a break for it.<p>

"Jeffrey!" Sam shouted after him.

He ran after him but as he turned a corner Sam was nailed from his left by one of Abaddon's demons. Sam was disarmed by him and then pushed aside. Sam took out the angel blade hidden behind him and then tried to run it into the demon's chest. The blade instead hit something solid and the demon was unharmed.

The demon looked down at the stopped blade and smirked at Sam. "Sorry Winchester, it's a whole new ballgame." Sam was then grabbed from behind by another demon who twisted his arm to get him to drop the angel blade.

The first demon lightly hit his chest. "Caviler, stops iron and salt rounds and blades. For the first time in a long time I feel strong." He then went and struck Sam in the face. "Strong enough to even bring the mighty Sam Winchester to heel."

The second demon then tossed Sam off in the air where he landed and hit a table that collapsed from the force of it. Sam's vision went blurry and he found that everything around him was fading.

* * *

><p>Dean took out the knife to try and slash at Abaddon's throat but she easily grabbed his wrist and stopped him.<p>

"Please, it's not so easy to strike a knight." She then squeezed and broke his wrist. "And what's a knight without her attendants?"

The two demons that had been firing on Dean came up behind him and grabbed him by his arms and restrained him in front of Abbadon.

"You're a tough broad, I'll give you that," he grunted against his captures' hold.

"And you're predictable. I had a feeling you wouldn't bring Crowley but I'm glad you didn't. It means that I could have some fun with you."

"Yeah, well no offense but I've never really been into intense red heads."

Abaddon struck him in the face. "Do all hunters in this day and age make jokes when they're taken prisoner? I can see that I have a lot of work ahead of me but I think I'm off to a good start. Ask your good friend Jeffrey about how effective my work is. He and your brother should be meeting my other attendants right now."

"Well, good luck to them then." He tried to sound more confident than he felt.

"Now, why don't we get started and you tell me where Crowley is? I need to display his corpse so that the rest of the demons out there can know that Hell is under new management. Or if not…I hear you don't possess easily but I can tear off this 'No Demon's Allowed' tag on your chest," she said rubbing him through his shirt in the area where his anti-possession tattoo was. "And we'll see how much blood it takes to flow between your fingers before you're ready to talk."

* * *

><p>The demons looked pretty proud of themselves as they looked down at the defeated Winchester. They had brought him down with little injury to them at all. Perhaps Abaddon was fit to rule Hell over Crowley after all. As they went to retrieve Sam they jumped in surprise when his eyes opened and glowed with a fierce blue light. The hunter stood and light erupted from his body and they looked behind him to see the imprint of an angel with bent and broken wings that few remaining feathers were molting. Yet even so, the angel stood tall and strong before them. The glass nearby started to crack and shatter and the ground also started to shake. In a split second it moved over and grasped their heads and the demons inside were smited by the angel.<p>

Angel!Sam looked out at a hole facing where Dean was being held and caught a glimpse of the demon knight.

"Abaddon…as ruthless as you ever were. Still need work on your attitude though. You still have that bloodstained stick up your ass," he said before walking off to get to the Winchesters' car.

* * *

><p>The emergence of the angel was felt by everyone. Abbadon let go of Dean and looked back towards the factory interior. Dean hoped that meant that Sammy was okay in there. The two demons holding him loosened their grip as they tensed up at the prospect of fighting an angel.<p>

"So you had an angel up your sleeve. A spunky one by the feel of it. No problem, I'll handle him as soon as I'm done with you."

Dean slowly and carefully began to reach with his good hand behind him. "Oh, you're done alright." He pulled out the gun he had behind him and then quickly shot two shots, one at each demon holding him, at their feet. He then got up and ran off picking up the dropped knife along the way.

The demons made to go after him but they found that they couldn't move.

"What is this?" one struggled.

"We're stuck!" cried the other.

Dean knew that the demon's made themselves bulletproof from the gear they stole from that base but their shoes aren't. The devil's trap bullets kept them anchored. Abaddon ran after him but Dean kept firing behind him at her and Abbadon moved to make sure that the bullets didn't hit anywhere vulnerable which slowed her down. Dean ran off and managed to make it back to the car where Angel!Sam and Jeffrey were waiting. Jeffrey was ranting and raving in the backseat while the angel had the car running and waiting for him. Dean jumped in the driverseat and started to drive. One last look at the factory had him seeing Abaddon come into the picture just in time to see them take off.

Abaddon smirked as they made their escape. All things considered her first campaign for hell went off without a hitch.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean sitting off the side of the Impala's hood as they were parked off the interstate in a rest stop. They had taken Jeffrey and drove him to where he had parked his car. He had been quite shaken still but otherwise okay. They hadn't had a demon force them to run like that since Lillith. Abaddon was much more stronger, smarter and evil then they first thought.<p>

"What happened back there Dean?" Sam asked as he handed his brother a beer from a cooler. "The last thing I remember was being thrown at a table and the next thing I knew was me waking up in the car with you shouting at Jeffrey."

"His ranting was getting on my last nerve," he grunted.

"With what he went through, can you blame him? But still, Dean what happened?"

"Oh well those two were dragging your unconscious ass out of the building when I stepped in. I managed to get away from Abaddon and I saw them taking you. I shot at one of them and got lucky with it going into his head with the devil's trap bullets. The other one dropped you and ran at me and I took the knife and stabbed him in between the eyes. The other one I went and cut his throat. I got Jeffrey to be calm enough to help me carry you to the car and then we took off."

Sam nodded before taking a sip of his beer. It seemed sincere but something in the back of Sam's mind was telling him that there was something wrong going on here. He hoped it was just nerves of what they just went through.

"Abaddon is still out there," said Sam after a while.

"Yeah and trying to take control of Hell. I hate to say it but I'm starting to think Crowley staying in charge might not be so bad."

"What are we going to do?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. Abaddon was just too strong and smart for them to just take on. For the first time in years, he had no idea what to do about getting rid of a demon.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 4<strong>

A/N: From how old Abaddon must be I figured her ruthlessness would be on par with demons like Lillith and Alistair. I figured this kind of action was more worthy for a 'Knight of Hell'. Her first public move and she has broken a hunter's spirit and struck a great blow to the hunting community and even had Dean and Sam in a retreat. As for the Angel!Sam's identity we have been given a little more insight on him. He knows Abbadon on a personal level that is clear now. I wouldn't mind hearing theories on which angel you think he might be though I will say that he isn't Lucifer.

The next episode will be called The Devil is in the Details. Kevin has unlocked the rest of the warning regarding the price for failing the trials and turns to the only available source to help him understand it. Also, Sam and Dean stumble on another slain hunter and run into trouble with the law.


	5. The Devil's in the Details

Chapter 5: The Devil is in the Details

Dean and Sam were running through a residential neighborhood, scaling the walls of backyards and hopping over brushes. The sounds of barking dogs and shouting men followed after him.

"Move Sammy!" Dean said as dropped off the side of a wooden fence.

Sam dropped down right after him. "What the hell do you think I'm doing?" he spat back.

They ran down a street when two men came into view behind them. The flashlights in their hands zipped about as they went in pursuit.

"Stop!" one of them yelled.

Dean and Sam just kept running until a car pulled up in front of them. It's bright red and blue sirens were shining as the two officers inside stepped out with their guns pointed right at them.

"Freeze!" one of them said as he took aim.

Dean looked back and saw that the other two were closing in and he pulled Sam to try and move off down a driveway between two houses. The two officers from the car ran after them too. They were about to climb the fence into the left house's back lawn when a dog hopped over the fence and barked at them. A man followed right after it and brought a gun on them. The four officers from before came up behind them effectively trapping them in that space.

"Hold it right there," the newest officer said. "Cuff em," he ordered the other four. Two of them pulled out cuffs and roughly grabbed their arms and pulled them behind them to snap the cuffs on. "You two are under arrest for the murder of Ruben Diaz."

Sam and Dean took a hard and tired look at one another before they were being pulled away to head for the police car.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p><em>24 Hours Ago<em>

Dean was sitting on his motel room bed as he growled angrily into his phone.

"This isn't a tip or some kind of courtesy crap, it's an alert. This demon is much more than anything you can handle. If you want proof then call Jeffrey. He sure can tell you about his little run-in. Just help spread the word. No one hunts alone or if they do then they make sure they are in a salt and iron Fort Knox. Well, you're welcome," he huffed before he cut the call. Dean was fuming and he was this close from punching a hole in the wall.

Sam looked up from the stack of papers he had on the table in front of him. "So…how is everyone taking the news?" Dean glared at Sam not appreciating his brother's humor at all at the moment. "That good huh?" Sam said leaning back in his chair.

"Wow Sherlock, your detective skills are amazing," he huffed.

It had been a few days since their run-in with Abbadon and since then they have been trying to spread the word about the new Knight of Hell running amok trying to hunt down hunters but some were being too damn stubborn and didn't want to go into hiding from a demon no matter how powerful she supposedly was. The most frustrating thing was that Dean couldn't really blame them. If it were him, he wouldn't go running and hiding either.

"Dean, we can't control who decides to be cautious and who doesn't. All we can do is try and warn and help who we can."

"Yeah, from the demon that we let loose in the first place." Dean deflated when he saw that Sam was feeling guilt too. He hoped that Sam wasn't wishing that he had gone through with the trials. "Look I didn't mean

"Forget it Dean," insisted Sam. "Let's just focus on what we can do over what we did or didn't do, alright?"

"Alright." Dean was all too eager to move on from this. "And what's that?"

"All I can think of right now is trying to warn everyone we can. Did you get everyone? Did you call Garth? He could really help on that."

"Yeah, one of the first numbers I tried. I can't reach him. If he hadn't been silent for a while then I would be worried Abbadon got to him already."

Sam narrowed his eyes at that. "He's still gone dark? What do you think he's been doing?"

"Either he's on a real intense hunt or one of his extended me times. Anyway I left him a message."

"And have you heard from Cas?"

"Yeah, a few hours ago. Called from a payphone saying that he was boarding the bus in that station in Nebraska. He should get to Kansas in two days. He might not be an angel anymore but he still might be able to help us with stopping Abbadon for good and helping with translating the tablets." Dean then went back to his phone. "Speaking of which…"he muttered as he scrolled down his contact list.

* * *

><p>Kevin was spread out on his bed drinking some iced lemonade and resting the glass over his forehead and eyes between sips. He was taking a well deserved break from squinting at the symbols plastered on those tablets. Today, he just wanted to rest, relax and pretend that things like demons and monsters and prophets don't exist. He would just lie in bed and catch up on some of his favorite things on Netflix. Just as he let himself get settled, his phone rang and he audibly groaned when he saw Dean's name as the caller's id.<p>

"Hey Dean," he said answering. "What's up?"

"_Kevin, any luck with cracking that warning bit for failing the trials?"_

"Not since you called me yesterday."

"_Still? Well did you make any progress with the angel tablet at least?_"

"What? No, when was I supposed to be able to do that? You had me focusing on the Demon Tablet first, remember? Besides, it's been a long few days. I'm punching out for the day."

"_What are talking about_?"

"Dean, I need time where I can just take a break. I'm taking a personal day today."

"_Yeah well Kevin the office is calling you in to revoke that day_." Kevin could tell Dean was pissed on the other end. "_There is too much going on right now. There are people dying and in danger out there that won't wait for you to finish your personal day. I get that you must be feeling tired, hell we're all tired right now, but we can't afford to take any time off from those tablets. We all got to make sacrifices for the greater good Kevin."_

"Are you're saying that I haven't Dean? My girlfriend and my mother aren't enough to qualify for a sacrifice?"

"_And you're sure making what they went through worth it, aren't you?"_

Kevin felt the heat rising from his stomach to his head. He closed his eyes rock hard to try and push the new stress out. "Fine. I'll go back to work on the Demon Tablet."

"_Good…and see if there is anything about Knights of Hell on there_."

"Okay, would you like me to repaint the bunker while I'm at it?" he said being snippy.

"_Call us as soon as you find anything_." He answered before hanging up.

Kevin hung up to and he gave a yell as he took his glass of lemonade and threw it across the room and shattered it on the opposite wall.

* * *

><p>Dean hung up and looked over to see Sam shaking his head disapprovingly.<p>

"Nice work there Dean. Kevin may be a prophet but he's still a kid. Did you have to be hard on him when he just wants to have a single day to himself?"

"Believe me, I wish I could've just let him take a day. Hell, any other day I would take him out for drinks myself but we're at Defcon 1 here. We can't afford to take some time now especially with it being two weeks since the third trial. Whatever is happening, we need to cut it off at the knees. We have enough on our plate with Abbadon and the angels falling to worry about a new apocalypse coming around the corner."

"And I'm sure Kevin understands that but you didn't have to pull that Prima Donna act on him. Go easy on him."

"The last time we went easy on him the kid hid the Demon Tablet under a billboard. Lately, it's like he just doesn't get that the world is on the brink." Sam continued looking at Dean with disapproval. "It's rough, yeah, but we got to show some Tough Love to get through to him."

"Like you did when you almost broke his wrist when we brought his girlfriend and mother's killer in front of him and told him he had to grin and bear it?"

Dean shut his eyes as a new wave of stress came over him. He didn't need Sam to tell him that he was being a complete dick to Kevin but he couldn't afford to worry about that now. Kevin hating his guts was hard to bear but it was a cost he would be glad to pay if it gets everything fixed quicker. "So what's our next move?"

Sam moved through the papers in front of him a little angrily. How he just asked that like they weren't talking about something else important. "I don't know." He knew that if he pressed the issue then they would argue all night and it would amount to nothing. "I can't find any patterns behind Abbadon's hits. It's like she's leap frogging across the country. She's being clean cut."

"I suppose it was too much to hope for a knight would be sloppy. Or for a clue to just fall into our lap." Just as he finished saying that the phone in his hand started ringing. "Hello?"

"_Dean? It's Ruben!"_ came frantically from the other end of the line.

"Whoa, Ruben?"

"_I need your help. Demons are after me_!"

"Whoa, wait, what's going on."

"_Demons are after me,"_ he repeated frantically. "_They've been shadowing me all day. I've got my home sealed out but I don't know how long I can keep them out. I heard that you trying to stop these guys so get over here and stop them!_"

The call then cut off right there.

* * *

><p>Kevin was looking at the tablet as he wrote some more notes before he did a double take. The symbols started to vibrate and he had to rub his eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him. The meaning of the next phrase jumped up at him and he quickly wrote it down. Once it was on the paper he looked at it with a whole new level of confusion up on him. It was only three words, simple words that all people knew the meaning of, yet strung together it didn't make sense. He thought about calling Sam and Dean about it but without knowing what it meant, was it even worth it? Besides, with how Dean has been lately Kevin didn't feel like he owed him any favors. But where could go to make sense of this? Or rather, who?<p>

Crowley was staring off and looking at his loafers for the seventh straight hour when the creaking of the doors to his new room opened up to reveal the young prophet.

"Kevin…you're not the first I would've guessed to pay me a visit today but I'll take you."

Kevin put his notepad on a nearby table as he stepped forward to give Crowley a better view of him. "Shut up Crowley. This isn't a courtesy call. I wouldn't be here if I didn't need to be."

"No, I wouldn't think so. What, do you have a blade hiding behind your back that you want to stick into me? If you do I have some ideas where," he said mockingly.

Kevin clenched his fist open and close like he did have something in his grip. "No but I sure would like one right now."

Crowley gave a humorless chuckle. "What's stopping you then?"

"Lack of demon killing knives."

"Ahh," Crowley said nodding his head. "Dean, I'm guessing. He's quite the slave driver isn't he?"

"Shut up Crowley," he growled back.

Crowley kept going. "He says hop, you say how high? He says take a message, you ask for the font. He says stand back and let me live when I killed your girl and then your mum and you say okay after he pushes you around and preaches some oh so loving words, is that right?" Kevin glared harder at Crowley while he just stared him in the eye. "I did warn you didn't I Kevin? I warned you to run but it's too little too late, isn't it? If you ran now then the Squirrel and Moose would just haul you back and even if you did run…where would you go?"

Kevin darted forward and gave Crowley a hard punch across the face. He put everything he had in him; all the anger, grief and hopelessness he felt into that hit that had him breathing hard like he ran a marathon. Crowley however didn't look any worse for wear at all though. He just opened his lower jaw a bit and settled back comfortably in his chair.

"You no good bastard," Kevin grumbled as he leaned back.

"I'm the King of Hell, sort of comes with the job. At least I have an excuse. Decent punch though, no doubt you inherited that from dear old mum. Tell me Kevin, do you think she would be happy for you right now?"

Kevin didn't answer. He just went to get his pad. "I don't need this." He snatched the pad and went to open the doors to leave. "And by the way, if what Sam and Dean said is true then it looks like your reign is ending with a knight taking your throne before dust has a chance to settle."

Crowley calmness ebbed away quickly. "Whoa, wait! What are you talking about?"

Kevin looked back and sneered at the demon. "Why should I tell you anything?"

"You came here for something relating to your notes, didn't you? You're having trouble with your translation and I'm apparently have trouble stirring in my kingdom. You help me by telling me what I want to know and you get my help in telling you what you need to know."

Kevin clicked his tongue. "And I should just trust you?"

"Say what you want about me but the one thing you can't say about the King of Hell is that I don't always hold up in keeping a deal. You get what you want and I get what I want."

The thought of doing anything for Crowley even if it's to spread gossip he'll hate still made his skin crawl. But this new passage confused him and he didn't like the sound of it. "Alright fine."

"What's the story about my throne being taken? You said something about a knight, that wouldn't be Abbadon by any chance?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah." He couldn't help but be a little smug and try to run it in Crowley's face for those digs earlier about him and his mother. "It looks like she is trying to win favor with demons by striking against some hunters. She is calling herself the new Queen of Hell."

"How many demons have joined her?" Crowley demanded.

Kevin shrugged. "I don't know. Sam and Dean only fought against a handful of them a couple of days ago."

Crowley snarled to himself. What did that violence driven ditz know about ruling demons in this day and age? He brought order and growth to Hell and it was not made easier with the Winchesters and Castiel on his back but he worked hard to unify the demons and consolidate his authority in Hell and now it looks like it is falling apart within a few weeks. A few dead hunters and Abbadon thought she could rule Hell? Ruling Hell was more than fifteen minutes of glory.

He took a hard deep huff from his nose as he relieved the new stress that came with all of this. "Now…what is it that you needed to see me about?"

"Really?" Kevin was genuinely surprised. "Just like that?"

Crowley was looking quite seriously at him, all traces of his former humor were gone. "Like I said, I always hold my end of the bargain. Now are we going to compare notes or not?"

Kevin looked down at his notes to the new bit he translated. "Do the words 'Father of Murder' mean anything to you?"

Crowley's eyes widened. "Say that again."

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean had passed the border of Colorado a little while ago as they hastened to make it to Ruben's house in Boulder.<p>

"How much longer Sam?"

Sam checked his GPS to see how much longer it would be before they reached Ruben's home. "We're a little over 100 miles away from Boulder. If we keep going like this then we should get there in two hours."

Dean glared ahead as he tried to speed them up. "Damn. I just hope Ruben could hold out until we get there."

"Dean," Sam said. "If Abbadon is literally gunning for Ruben then he might already be…

"No, don't even say it Sam. Okay, we can't just stand back and let that bitch come along and kill our own like that! We just can't!" he growled.

Dean didn't want to say it out loud but for every person that gets hurt or killed in Abbadon's path is on him. He stopped Sam from boarding up hell and now there is a Knight of Hell on the loose killing his fellow hunters, that's even worse.

"I get that Dean. I don't want more people to get hurt any more than you do but we're a little outclassed here. Every time we've come up against Abbadon we've been lucky to escape by the edge of our teeth. The last time we barely were able to get away with Jeffrey intact. What are we supposed to do if we run into Abbadon again?"

"Simple, we take our devil's trap rounds and we put them right in between that bitch's eyes. They haven't made any bullet proof face masks the last time I checked. Then we take the blades and we carve out her heart and gank her once and for all."

Oh yes, he remembers what Dean said. On how a Knight of Hell must have its heart destroyed before they could be slain. "And we're sure that will work? Where did you even hear about that from anyway?"

"Don't worry about where I heard it," he said dodging the issue. "Just worry about sticking it to that bitch!"

"Dean, Abbadon is not just going to stand still and let us stab her. She tortured and killed three innocent people off the street just to get our phone numbers. What do you think she'll do to protect herself?"

He grit his teeth. Sam had a good point. Abbadon wasn't going to play fair and keep this between them. She would pull anything and anyone she wanted into this to give her any kind of edge on them.

"Maybe we should use a secret weapon," he suggested.

"What secret weapon?" Sam didn't know what Dean was talking about.

"You know…" he said evasively.

"No," he drew out.

"Sure Samuel."

The next second Sam's eyes were glowing with energy as the angel within took control. "Dean? What's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong? But before getting into that, I just want to say…thanks…for helping Sammy out back there."

He nodded. "Of course."

"Look, the reason I'm calling you is if you wouldn't mind helping us take down Abbadon. Against her we could use all the help we could get."

But the angel closed his eyes. "I'm sorry Dean but I can't."

He nearly cracked his neck turning his neck to the angel in a flash. "Why not?!"

The angel still kept his eyes closed for a moment before he opened them looking a little saddened. "I'm sorry but I'm not strong enough to take on a Knight of Hell Dean. I did explain how strong they are didn't I?"

"I know but I have an arsenal here. I'm sure it can help us turn the tide on that bitch. Also, you should have had enough time to be strong enough to fight against demons. Besides, I'll have your back if you have mine."

"Still, with the strength that I've gathered and more would be drained from me in a battle with such a foe. Even if we do succeed I would be too drained to keep Sam's consciousness at bay. He would discover what is going on and would immediately move to expel me and I wouldn't be able to stop him. Your brother could die."

Dean's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "So you can't do anything?"

"Well…I can stand by your brother as he fights and any major injuries that come his way I can heal before they can do too much damage before quickly returning control to him putting the illusion of him having an adrenaline rush into his head to explain any lapses in time."

It wasn't much but Dean guessed it was better than nothing. "Well, thanks anyway."

The angel retreated and Sam came to. He gazed out the window but his vision zoned in on a marker. "That's weird," he mumbled.

"What is?" asked Dean acting like nothing was wrong.

"That marker said that we are at Mile 62 but I swear a moment ago we were passing a Mile 51 marker."

Dean looked at him like he was nuts. "Are you kidding? You've been staring off into space for the last few minutes and you zone out that much?"

"Um…I…" Sam rubbed the side of his temple. He wondered what was going on with him lately. Maybe he was there was too much on his mind. "I was?"

"I've been telling you to take it easy haven't I? Look, since there is some time before we get to Boulder why not try and get some sleep? We're going to need you fresh and not zoning out while we fight Abbadon."

Sam wasn't feeling sleepy or like his mind was wandering. It was like something was trying to mess with him. He carefully looked at Dean and noticed that he seemed tense. Not angry and anxious about Boulder but just tense. He looked the same way as he spouted all that stuff about him zoning out and he wondered just what was really going on.

* * *

><p>The Impala pulled up in front of Ruben's house and Sam and Dean noticed the door slightly ajar. They readied their guns and kicked the door in and rushed in at full alert. There were broken salt lines and empty salt shells scattered around.<p>

"Dean," Sam said as they carefully moved through Ruben's living room. "You smell that?"

Dean nodded. "Sulfur."

They carefully moved off for the kitchen where they found a pool of blood. It was leading to a body that was turned upside down with noticeable bloody stab wounds on the back.

"Ruben, damn it!" Dean kicked a nearby turned over chair. They were too late to save another of their fellow hunters.

Suddenly a police buzzer sounded in front of the house and red and blue light poured in through the curtains of the windows.

"Dean!" whispered Sam.

"No. Not now!"

They turned to run out the back door just as officers pour in through the front and just catch them slipping out before they are in hot pursuit.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean were in an interrogation room at the police precinct with their hands handcuffed behind them. The officer that had blocked their escape with his dog was in the room trying to wear them down.<p>

"I'm trying to tell you. Ruben is an old friend of ours." Dean started to try and explain their presence at his house.

"Really? I've known Ruben myself for two years now and I've never seen you around or heard of you before."

"Well we've never seen or heard of you before but you don't see us accusing you," Dean said back. "Ruben invited us to come over. We were riding off to stay with him before we went off on a hunting trip tomorrow."

"If you are so innocent then why did we find you armed with guns. Or," he said taking out a plastic bag. Inside were the knife and two angel blades. "these big knives?"

"Hunting gear," Said Dean.

"Really? First time I've seen hunting knives that look like these," the officer said not buying a word.

"They're custom," Dean quipped.

Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

The officer wasn't amused as he slammed the bag back down. "You think this is all some game? There was a 911 call a few minutes before we arrived. A neighbor called and said that he heard screaming, crying and the sounds of things breaking before he heard a gunshot. We responded and found you two armed and next to a body that was stabbed and from the looks of things, tortured. So do you want to try for something better or keep to piss me off?"

The door of the interrogation room opened as a man in a suit walked in. "Excuse me gentlemen."

"Who are you?" the officer asked.

"I'm special agent Logan Donavan," he said moving forward to shake the officer's hand.

"Deputy Ralph Waines." He didn't return the agent's handshake. "You don't have to worry agent but I'm handling this case."

"I'm sure you are but it looks like you'll have to handle it with me now. I'd like to speak with these two men now, alone." The deputy was about to protest but Agent Donavan cut him off. "I'm afraid I must insist."

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 5<strong>

A/N: The last time I started a new episode I had a Then and Now montage like any episode but it didn't seem to go very well with a lot of people so I cut it out. Dean was being a real dick to Kevin there bringing his mom and girlfriend in like that right? Crowley too. I was sad that Kevin got screwed over the way he did when he did nothing to deserve it. How are Sam and Dean going to get out of this one? Not only were they caught at and fleeing the scene but now the Feds are involved. Just in case…Agent Donavan is a real fed.


	6. The Devil's in the Details part 2

Chapter 6: The Devil is in the Details part two

"Fine," Waines said moving to leave the room.

"Hold it," said Agent Donavan. "Uncuff them and let them put their hands in front and then cuff them again."

Sam and Dean were surprised at that.

"They're secure," he protested. "Do you know just how hard it was to catch these two?"

Donavan wasn't having it. "Just do it," he repeated simply.

Waines clicked his teeth but went over to do it. "It's your funeral."

Sam and Dean's hands were uncuffed and let their hands go from being bound behind them before bringing them in front of them and re-cuffing them. Agent Donavan silently watched Deputy Waines leave the room but not before throwing a hard look back at the two bound prisoners before leaving. Donavan pulled up the chair in front of them and went to sit down. He then opened the file and read to himself for a few minutes.

Deputy Waines left the room where another deputy was standing and waiting by the room's one way mirror. "Do you believe this Joel?" he said angrily.

Joel just shrugged. "I believe that the feds think they can do whatever they want and we can't say anything about it."

"This was supposed to be my breakthrough case. Add in that this is personal, I liked Ruben. I'm the best man for this and this Donavan thinks he can just walk in and take it just like that?"

"Relax Ralph, he shouldn't get to you. Don't forget that you brought them in and in the end, that's what will matter."

Agent Donavan flipped through the last page of the report before he closed it and looked over at the two brothers. "Well, I'm sure you're a lot more comfortable sitting like that then you were before." There was a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Are you trying to pull off the 'good cop' routine? If you are I don't think you're off to a great start buddy."

Sam just kept his mouth shut and his eyes on his hands.

Donavan's pleasant demeanor didn't change though. "Oh, I'm not trying anything. The hand thing wasn't for your benefit, it's for mine. You see I've found that tells aren't just in people's faces, it's also with the rest of their body and hiding the hands would help in hiding their tells. I prefer to see how people are completely reacting to me and my questions. So far, your friend looks like he's trying to keep calm and you are putting on this smug fascade while trying to quickly and quietly think on something else." The two of them looked up at him in the eye. "Well, am I warm?"

They didn't say anything.

"Okay then," Donavan said getting himself back to business. "How about you tell me what you know, starting with how you know the victim?" He took out a notepad and pen and listened to what they had to say.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean were in two holding cells with Sam standing and leaning against the bars while Dean was sitting on a corner at the floor. They weren't alone but the only other man in the cells was a teenager that had a bruise on the side of his cheek. It was already daybreak and the two of them hardly got any sleep. They had spent an entire hour giving Agent Donavan a crap story about being friends of Ruben's that were coming over for a hunting trip when they stumbled on the door broken in and went in with their rifles to find him dead. They also explained that they ran because they were scared and worried when the cops showed up. They didn't know if the agent believed any of it or not but either way, they seemed a little screwed right now.<p>

"Any ideas yet," Sam asked for like the third time.

"I'm thinking," Dean put his thumb and forefinger on the tip of his forehead. "It shouldn't be this hard. We've gotten out of tougher scrapes than this."

"I meant about Ruben. This, I'm not too worried about. Even if they don't believe us, they can't really hold us. Our prints aren't anywhere at Ruben's except the front and back doors and we didn't leave any evidence on the body. There's nothing but circumstantial evidence and they can't hold us for too long on that."

"Okay, well what about Ruben. I think it's pretty obvious what happened."

"I mean, didn't you see his place? There was no destroyed interior or signs of gunfight. Abaddon's attacks were wild and out in the open, this one was kind of clean. It looked like a simple demon invasion. Ruben looked like he had been just stabbed dead and that doesn't look like Abaddon's style at all."

"I don't know. A new flunkie maybe? All I know for sure that a demon killed Ruben which adds another to the list of reasons for taking that bitch out."

Sam stared out towards the window on the opposite side of the room. "Something doesn't feel right about this."

"What was your first clue?"

Sam ignored Dean. "I meant what that cop said. About how someone called and said they heard screaming and shooting. That's how they were there. But we got there a little before them and I didn't see any sign of that. If there was gunshots and screaming loud enough to be heard then there would've been people out wondering what was going on but everything looked quiet by the time we got there. Ruben's blood didn't look too fresh and I didn't smell fresh gunpowder either."

"What are you trying to say Sam?"

He folded his arms. "I'm saying that we were set up."

Agent Donavan was finding evidence that was supporting Sam's theory. He couldn't find any neighbors of Ruben Diaz that claimed to have heard the gunshots or screams let alone call 911 and report it. The coroner also confirmed that Ruben had been stabbed to death and wasn't shot whatsoever. The shotguns that had been taken off the two brothers hadn't been fired and even if they were they had been full salt rounds instead of normal ones. They had handguns on them as well that were confiscated but they weren't fired also. He got a call from the forensic team sent to Ruben's home and heard more that helped him see that these two definitely weren't the ones the police in Boulder thought they were.

* * *

><p>It was the middle of the night and the station was settling down. There were now only a standard skeleton number of officers in the station as well as two prisoners in the holding cells. Deputy Waines went over to the cells and hit them lightly with his nightstick. Sam and Dean were knocked out of their stupor to look over at him.<p>

"Feeling like letting us go yet," Dean mumbled He was starting to feel stiff and tired from being stuck in this holding cell. He had been trapped in this space for a solid 24 hours and was getting tired of it.

"I don't know. Feel like having anything other than crap come out of that mouth of yours?" Waines said folding his arms.

"Are you ready to clean the crap out of your ears first?" Dean said back.

"No, but I'm tired of taking yours."

The deputy opened the cell. Dean went to stand back as the officer came and roughly grabbed at him. Dean tried to keep him back and rolled around the cell but Waines fought him off and shoved his face against the walls. He then brought his arms behind him before he cuffed him.

"Hey!" Sam yelled as his brother was manhandled.

Deputy Waines ignored him. "Let's go chuckles," he spat before leading Dean away.

Sam wondered what was Dean thinking fighting the cop like that before he saw something glint at the floor. He bent down and saw that it was a small ring of keys. Waines must've not noticed he dropped them...or Dean take them from his belt as he fought. Sam unlocked the cell door and went to try and get their stuff from evidence. He was thankful to see that he didn't see or run into any other officers. He'd rather not be forced to beat any cops into unconsciousness if he could help it. Sam found the evidence room and quietly slipped in and went to the shelves. He had memorized the number that their gear was in and once he got their guns and blades then he would find Dean and they would bust out of here. He found the folder and then poured the contents out but was surprised to find that only their guns were there. The plastic bag that held the two angel blades and their demon knife was empty.

Waines threw Dean into the chair with a not too gentle grace.

"Unlike that smug fed I could care less if you're comfy."

"No, no this is good," Dean moaned out as he adjusted himself in the chair.

This only set Waines further off. "You smug bastard! I knew Ruben for a good ten years. He used to date my cousin and I happened to have liked the guy and you're joking around after being found with his body. Believe me, I'm the last person who is laughing."

Dean actually straightened himself. He may act like a dick sometimes but he wasn't an asshole. This cop wasn't just someone who ran across Ruben but was personally involved with him. It further explained why this guy has been so hard in their case.

"Look man, I'm sorry but I don't know what you want me to say. Okay, my brother and I didn't even touch the guy. We weren't even there until just before you all showed up like we said the last hundred times. We had just got into town."

"That's crap. My friend Joel talked to a witness that said they saw you around all day."

"Why don't you talk to your pal's witness then and see if it was really us she saw."

"Don't tell me how to do my-

His rant was cut off by someone coming up behind him and stabbing him in the back. Dean flinched as Waines' body fell over to the ground and he looked up to see one of the other deputies, Joel, standing there with their demon killing knife. He looked over at Dean with a smug smile as his eyes flashed red.

* * *

><p>The Impala had been towed to the impound lot where it had been towed from Ruben's front driveway. A shadow descended on the back trunk and opened it. A hand went to the bottom and lifted it to reveal the secret compartment full of the boys' hunting supplies and weapons.<p>

* * *

><p>Deputy Joel leered at Dean with his new blood red eyes reflecting their glow in the light of the interrogation room. In his hands was Ruby's knife that was fresh with Waine's blood.<p>

"Finally, some time alone. I've been wanting to talk to you for quite some time now." Dean looked over at the deputy's body and glared at him. "What?" the demon said making the red eyes go away. "Oh, come on; you know you wanted to do that ever since you met the guy."

The cop was a hardass but he didn't deserve that. Dean was ready to charge the demon but he was still bound from behind by the handcuffs. There was little he could do like this.

"So, you killed Ruben?" he asked unnecessarily.

"Wow, faster than Deputy Dick here." He started wiping the blood with a cloth he pulled from his pocket. "Yeah, I had been stalking your buddy Ruben all day looking for a chance to strike which I finally got two days ago. Borrowed a local blue to get him to drop his personal red alert. Worked like a charm before I worked him. A little before you got that call."

"So Ruben's call to me, that wasn't him. That was you taking him for a joyride." Dean glared harder at the demon.

Joel chuckled. "Yeah. He wasn't as hard to crack as hunters usually are. I guess all the latest Abaddon hype is starting to get to some people. Anyway, once I found your information I sent him on his merry way. Of course, I knew better than to try and take on the Winchesters in a straight on fight so I did what any person does when there are dangerous men coming to get him: involve the police."

"Wow...points for creativity there. So, what? You're here to try and hand us over to Abaddon and win brownie points?"

"Not quite. It's not Abaddon I'm shooting for. It's Crowley."

"Crowley?"

The demon pointed the blade towards him. "Before I carve out that tongue through your throat, you're going to tell me where the King of Hell is. There is a war for power starting up in Hell and we need our King to be leading us against that crazy bitch Abaddon."

"Okay, I got to ask. Why are you siding with Crowley over Abaddon? She's a hardcore Knight of Hell. I thought you would all be quick to follow her. Didn't you just say that she had all of us hunters on the run just a moment ago?"

"I won't deny that I admire that bit and I don't really have any love lost for Crowley personally but this isn't personal; its political. Abaddon is going to bring down the soul trade. I'm a crossroads demon. I love my job and I've just gotten myself pretty high in the business and Abaddon wants to come in and make it come tumbling down. She's also started on having a few demons fight to the death to pick out the best of us to have in her entourage and if any refuse she kills them herself. Quite a few of us prefer to relax and take in the chaos then jump right in. It's all fight and might 24/7 and no time to punch out and kick back between jobs. Between that and Crowley, we choose Crowley. So you are going to tell me where you're keeping the king or I could just kill you and move on to your brother."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Dean said going back to his original smartass tone.

Joel sucked on his teeth as he rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Dean, don't tell me that you are actually going to let Abaddon have free reign to seize control of Hell. She doesn't have full control yet and already she is forcing you and your fellow hunters to go on the run. You don't want her to have run of things anymore than I do. A knight is trying to lead a coup to take the kingdom and we need our king to lead us in the fight against her. Give Crowley back and we can move in to stop her. In fact, let's make a deal. You give Crowley up back to me and I won't hurt you and your brother. No souls traded or blood taken. How is that?"

The door was kicked in. It was Sam.

"No deal," he said before rushing at the demon.

The demon tried to swipe at Sam with the knife but he ducked down and made a grab for the demon's arm. They grabbed at each other as they pushed at each other to push the knife into one another. Dean was watching this scuffle, helpless thanks to the handcuffs keeping his hands behind his back. He tried to stand but he slipped on some of Waines' blood and fell on his back.

"Awesome," he grunted as he hit the floor.

Sam and Joel kept pushing and punching at one another as they tried to get control of the knife. Sam managed to grab the guy's wrist and twist it to make him release the knife and he kicked it away out of Joel's reach. The demon took his free hand and punched Sam off him. Sam actually moved towards the knife and he quickly went for it and had it in his grasp. However before he could do anything else there was a click.

Joel pulled out a sidearm and aimed it at Sam. "Stay right there."

Sam's grip on the knife tightened while Dean tired pulling against the cuffs in vain.

"Damn it," Sam said to couldn't believe that he was so focused on the knife that he let this demon keep a gun on him.

The demon chuckled when he heard him. "These things may not kill us but they still work on you. Now are you reconsidering my proposal?"

"Screw you," answered Sam.

Dean gave his answer to. "Suck it."

"Maybe some bullets in your shoulders might change your tunes."

A shot went off by Joel's head that made the demon flinch and drop his attention away from the Winchesters. It came from beyond the doorway where the door was kicked open by Sam earlier. Joel turned to where the shot came from, ready to fire his gun on the new source of interference but Sam went off and stabbed the demon. When the demon was dead he looked off to the doorway himself to see Agent Donavan there with his gun ready in his hands but it was pointed downwards as he slowly crept into the room to see all the chaos that had been done.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean were being escorted to the impound lot with Agent Donavan in the early afternoon. According to him, they were free to go.<p>

"I believe that you two are owed quite the apology," the agent said as he walked with them toward the Impala. "This seems to be the final piece of the puzzle. It was Joel Ferguson that had killed Ruben Diaz and then Ralph Waines."

Dean and Sam had told the agent that Joel had confessed to killing Ruben and then tried to pin it on the two of them over money. Ralph had stumbled onto something and had pulled Dean to question him when Joel had killed him to protect his secret.

"Yeah," said Dean helping Donavan go with the flow. "The bastard thought we might know where the rest of his money was. We just came here for a hunting trip like we said but he didn't want to believe us. He was going to kill me and that's where you came in when my brother stopped him."

"You're lucky that there was a camera there to catch Joel stabbing Ralph in the interrogation room or you wouldn't have clearance to leave so soon."

"And we can just leave?" Sam asked a little confused by all of this. "Just like that?"

They made it to the Impala when he stopped to look at the two of them. "You did only act in self-defense against Ferguson. Also, he did look ready to shoot at me as well if you hadn't stabbed him. Besides, I had come to the station to process your release anyway. I interviewed a few of the people who live by Ruben's house and not one of them confirmed that they were the one to report any disturbances. One of them said that they did hear your car pull in at Ruben's house and looked out their window to see you run inside a little before the police arrived on the scene. The coroner had confirmed that Ruben Diaz had been dead for hours by the time you would've arrived. No physical evidence from you two was found anywhere on the body or the knife used to kill him that was found near the body. No bullet holes caused by your guns and the knives you had didn't make one wound on the body. I also found that Deputy Ferguson had been on patrol rounds in the area all day which I found odd considering that he has the afternoons off. I was planning to confront him when I saw that gun. I'm having the coroner check against his prints right now which I'm sure will match against what was found on Ruben's body. With that, you two are in the clear."

"Wow," said Dean a little impressed. This was the first time that a fed actually helped them out of mess than gave them one to crawl out of without having to prove the supernatural to them first at least. "You're a lifesaver."

"Do you two happen to know what was up with your friend Ruben and Ferguson? What they were doing that Ferguson had to kill him?"

They just shook their heads.

"Sorry," Sam mumbled. "He didn't say. He just thought that Ruben called us to try and help him. But we didn't know anything."

Donavan nodded his head. "Okay then. Look, I know you didn't have anything to do with Ruben's murder and I'm hoping to keep it at that. I think it would be in both your best interest as well as mine if you two not stick around. The whole story isn't clear yet but I think your role in it ends here. Even if you didn't lay one finger on Ruben you two were caught with weapons on you which does raise a few questions. If you stayed then I have a feeling you might let yourselves be forced to have to answer them. Am I understood?"

Sam could understand what Agent Donavan was getting at. He thought that if they were innocent of anything then they wouldn't stay but if they were involved in any of the 'money issues' between Ruben and Ferguson then they wouldn't get off so easy next time. That wouldn't be a problem, they had to get moving anyway.

"Crystal," Dean said all too happy to leave this place. "Good luck on your case."

"Thank you." He reached into his pocket and gave them his card. "If you see or hear anything relating to Ruben's death or has anything to do with him, call me."

"Thanks again," Sam said reaching to shake his hand.

Dean nodded his head to the man before he took off back for the station. Dean turned back for his car and threw the card away.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

Sam went to put their stuff in the trunk when he saw that the lock on it was unlatched.

"Dean," he lifting the back trunk door easily.

The warding that covered the top was all broken apart and Sam immediately went to lift open the secret compartment. Sam immediately started shuffling around.

Dean hurried over. "What is it Sam? What's wrong?"

"Someone broke into the car. The wards are all broken in."

"Is everything still there?"

Sam shuffled around the contexts of their trunk while mentally going over their inventory in his head. When he was done he hit his hand on the bumper.

"Our holy oil is all gone!" he roared. "So are all of our angel repelling talismans."

"They took our angel stuff?" Dean shuffled through the stuff himself. "It doesn't look like anything else is missing." He then slammed the trunk back down. "Why would they take only the holy oil and angel talismans?"

"On top of our angel blades," Sam added.

Sam had yet to tell Dean about that. "What?"

"Yeah, at first I thought that the demon had them but all he had on him was the knife. Someone else must've taken the blades."

"They stole our weapons?"

"They stole only our weapons that are used on angels. Everything else looks like its still here."

"Demons? You think Crowley's fanboy brought a club?"

"Maybe...but why would go through all this just to steal from us? It doesn't make sense. They stole our blades but left behind the knife? Break into the trunk through the warding all for the oil and talismans but leave the rest of our weapons and supplies alone?"

"Someone with a death wish. Do what you want to me but no one touches my car."

* * *

><p>Agent Donavan was riding in his car quite content before he hit a red light. He then took out his cell and hooked it up to the car's dash and turned on the voice activation.<p>

"Call Daniel Leonard," he said as the light changed and he drove on.

The phone confirmed the action and called the contact he chose. The sound of a dial tone filled the car and after two tones a click was heard from the other end.

_"Logan?"_ sounded a young man's voice.

Agent Donavan smiled to himself. "Hey there Danny? I catch you at a bad time?"

_"No, not at all. What's going on?"_

"I'm in Boulder on a case. A man murdered in his home where he was tortured. I have reason to believe that he was a hunter."

_"Really? How?"_

"Well I think the secret storage of weapons the forensics found underneath his floorboards and empty salt rounds were a dead giveaway."

"_Another one. Yes, Ezekiel has been tracking a trail of bodies in the mid-west. The few demons that Nazareth interrogated confirm that a powerful demon by the name of Abaddon has started to create a following with creating new forms of chaos."_

"More chaos, great, that's all we need right now," Donavan droned.

"_This is just the beginning; I don't want to see this demon's grand scheme of things to come. Just try and wrap things up there quickly and get out of there."_

"As soon as I have the clearance to, I will. But Danny, that's not all I wanted to call about. I also think I ran into them. The them, the _**two**_ of them."

"_You mean the Winchesters?"_ he said on the other end. "_How do you know?"_

"With the involvement of a hunter I immediately was suspicious. Add in that there were two of them with a car of the make and model that you told me about and angelic weapons were found on them. Not too many hunters have managed to get their hands on some given that not too many get personally involved with angels. Their names also sounded a little phoney so I also ran a check on the federal database and confirmed it with their mugshots."

"_Good work. Those two have the prophet and two Words of God in their possession. We need them to enact the Batallion's grand plan. So they're in Boulder?"_

"No, not anymore. They were accused of the murder in the case I was given but I cleared them of their involvement and sent them away_."_

Daniel's voice became frantic and booming as it sounded in the car. "_What? Logan, why did you do that?"_

"Because I knew that as soon as they could those two would take off into the wind so I sent them off under a false sense of security. It also allowed me to be far from any of their suspicions when they left. I took the liberty of putting a federal tracking device in their car. They could lead us to that Bunker of theirs and we can pursue them at our own leisure."

_"Really? That's actually a great move but are you sure that they won't find it? Based on what I've heard and read these two are smarter than they look. Especially when it comes to that car. Dean Winchester will go over it with a fine tooth comb if he feels something is off with it."_

"The thought did cross my mind. Luckily the demon behind the mess in Boulder provided me with a good cover to break into the car and steal the boys supply of holy oil and angelic warding talismans. I even took their angel blades from evidence." Agent Donavan looked over at the passenger seat where there was an open box filled with items and the Winchesters' angel swords were visible at the top. "They'll think the demon had their trunk ransacked and won't bother to check for anything else. I was careful with what looked disturbed and what looked untouched. Made sure that the demon warding symbols were scratched and rubbed off before I left the car. This will also help in keeping them from doing anything to Joseph or the others. I'll bring these things over to the compound as soon as I can."

Small laughter sounded off from his friend. _"Logan…you are one crafty fed. I'll report this to Joseph, he's sure to be pleased. Good work. You had the Battalion take a great leap today."_

"All in the service of God and his true angels," he chanted before he hung up and kept right on driving.

Agent Donavan's sleeve rolled down a bit before his arm below his wrist was exposed to see a tight leather cuff with a enochian symbol etched in it.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 6<strong>

A/N: There is something brewing for Sam and Dean not just with the demons but with the angels as well. This 'Battalion' will be revealed in full pretty soon but I would love to hear what you think it is right now.

The next episode will be called Burden of the Mighty. Castiel makes it to Kansas and begins to move closer for the Bunker when he stumbles onto some trouble in a town on the way. Local heroes begin to start dropping dead in mysterious ways in their pursuit to help others. Castiel himself is in danger when he takes a stab at trying to help people without being an angel in the most dangerous of situations.


	7. Burden of the Mighty

Chapter 7: Burden of the Mighty

It was late at night, a little after midnight when disaster struck the peace of a somewhat beautiful night. A five floored apartment building had a fire roaring on the two upper floors. People were exiting the building, some coughing and others covered in some soot.

"Where are the firefighters?" cried out a frantic woman in a bathrobe and hairnet.

"They're on their way!" said a young woman next to her. "I can hear the sirens."

"How did that even start?" the old woman asked as they watched the flames started to spread downward on the outside of the building.

"I don't know," the other woman answered frantically as a window from the top burst from the pressure.

A man came out carrying a toddler in his arms with a woman following close behind.

"Are you okay sweetie?" the woman asked the boy in his father's arms.

The boy nodded. The father looked back and about. "Wait…where Jenna?"

The mother looked back at the building in horror. "Oh no," she gasped out. "She was mad at us and you know that she put on those headphones and locks her door when she gets mad. She might still be asleep!"

The father began moving the boy in his arms over to his mother. "No, Jenna. Here honey, take Ricky. I have to go back in there and get her."

"Jenna's still in there?" A teenage boy heard everything they said and he didn't wait for the parents to answer as he ran back into the building against the cries of the people close by. The father was being held back by other occupants of the building as the fire department arrived on the scene. A section of the burning roof snapped off and fell blocking the main door into the building.

"No!" the mother cried out in despair along with her husband.

The firefighters ordered everyone back as they tried to douse the flames in the front of the entrance to try and get into the building when a first floor window opened and a pair of slippered feet began to spill out through the leaking smoke. The firefighters rushed over to pull a young girl out and she was followed by the young man that rushed into the building. The girl was taken off to the side where she sat and tried to cough out the smoke she had taken in while the boy was being both criticized for rushing in and admired for saving the girl. The girl's parents especially were showering the boy with affection and gratitude. When the paramedics got there the boy was given a once over by them and was let go when there seemed to be nothing wrong. The boy walked off when something quickly passed behind him. He turned around but didn't see anything. A glimmer on the ground caught his eye and he bent down to see that it was a gold looking coin with the image of a woman with a sword and bow.

"Cool," he said before he pocketed it.

A little bit aways, the shape from before saw him take off with the coin before turning to walk away.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p>Castiel's sleeping head was lolling from side to side as the bus moved through the streets before coming to a complete stop. He was awakened when the bus driver's voice sounded through the bus on the intercom.<p>

"Bus Shuttle service to Topeka has now arrived at its destination. Please be sure to exit the bus with all your belongings and we thank you for journeying with us."

"You're welcome," he grunted out as he rubbed his neck.

Castiel stepped off the bus into the sun where he blinked away the brightness. It was also a little chilly and he found it a little discomforting. As an angel he had been in all climates and it never seemed to irk him but as a human he started to actually feel hot and cold now and he was finding cold weather to be uncomfortable. The shivering he started to do he found slightly disturbing too. He walked over to the nearest restaurant where he ordered himself a simple sandwich. He was looking over at all the people nearby who were eating and talking amongst themselves. He noticed that some were pointing out the windows to a group of people in front of what seemed to be a news van. A waitress came up to Cas and put a tray of two halves of a sandwich in front of him.

"Your order," she said as she set it down. "Will there be anything else?"

Castiel looked up at the woman to see that she was quite lovely looking with her kind expression outlined by her long, curly brown hair. A nametag with the name Jeannette could be read from where it was pinned to her chest. He spent the next few seconds staring at her with a warm feeling enveloping him where he had been a little chilly just a few moments ago. "Uh…" he managed to spill out.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked with a bit of a chuckle.

He shook himself out of the stupor he found himself in. "Sorry. I was in a bus seat for a good part of two days and I'm feeling a little tired."

She laughed off Castiel's shrewdness. "It's okay."

He looked down at the food she left him and smiled at her. "Thank you." Before the waitress could leave he called for her to wait. "I'm sorry, but could you tell me what is happening out there with all those people?"

A young man was brought out in front of a camera as a woman spoke to him with a microphone in hand. There were a few others there taking pictures.

"Oh…one of the guys who works here, Teddy, went and saved a girl in his building that was stuck in there during a fire the other night. He's a little hero. He actually ran into the building to get her out."

"Really? That was rather brave of that young man."

She nodded. "Yeah, I felt that Teddy was a good kid right from the first day he started working here."

"Still, not everyone can just put aside their fear for their own well-being to help someone out like that."

"Yeah," she said nodding a bit before smiling off at the sight of Teddy being interviewed. "Seems like they're popping up a lot around here."

Castiel looked from the people out the window to the woman. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, just a few locals going around and doing selfless good deeds for people. Who says there are only bad people to be seen out there."

"Yes," Castiel said in agreement. "Humans do seem to be portrayed negatively as of late."

Jeannette laughed. "You talk as if you weren't human yourself."

"Oh…I just meant that from an objective point of view. You understand, don't you."

This only made her smile widen. "You're funny." She then coughed when someone a few tables ahead raised their hand for her attention. "Sorry, I have to go. Let me know if you need anything else."

Castiel quietly ate his sandwich as he looked at a road map that he acquired at the station. Judging from where he was he was still about a near two hundred miles from the Men of Letters' Bunker. Perhaps he could call Dean and ask for him to be picked up assuming they were back from their latest case. He looked up when there was some slight applause for the young man, Teddy, as he walked into the restaurant before he went into the back for getting ready to start working. Castiel went over at the front of the restaurant to Jeannette to pay for his meal. As she opened the register two men in hooded sweaters came and pushed Castiel aside and stood right in front of Jeannette and one of them brought a gun slightly into sight.

"Don't scream or do anything stupid," one of them quietly growled at her.

The one with the gun quietly unclicked it at her. "Just empty the register, put the money in a paper bag and no one has to get hurt. And don't call any attention to yourself," he ordered.

"Okay," she whispered a little frantically.

Castiel saw that the men were both wearing sunglasses and with their hoods up all the way their faces were quite obscured. The one without the gun was looking at him and showed him a glint of a knife in his sweater pocket

"You keep quiet too trench coat or you'll see how fast blood stains," he said roughly at him.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt," he said calmly. "And I'm sure that deep down you gentlemen don't want to hurt anyone either. Please, just leave here peacefully," he asked with no panic or excitement in his voice that it almost threw the two men.

Jeannette was finishing putting the money in the bag when Teddy walked out of the sliding door near the register and caught sight of the gun being aimed at Jeannette.

"Hey!" he cried as he went and grabbed the guy's arm and tried to keep him from moving.

His partner ran up around them and stabbed Teddy in the back with a knife which caused a few of the people who went to look at them thanks to Teddy's shout to scream themselves in horror. The guy with the gun threw the young hero off of him before he went to grab the bag and they ran out through where he came in for the back door. Castiel and Jeannette ran to the fallen boy as he started to choke on his own blood.

"Teddy!" Jeannette cried. "Someone call 911!"

Teddy went and lightly took hold of Jeannette's hand as he stared straight up. Castiel kneeled and looked the boy straight in his eyes as he watched them dim as the boy's soul left his body no doubt into death's embrace.

* * *

><p>Castiel was among the crowd of people watching as the local hero was pulled out of the restaurant on a gurney that had a tarp to cover his body from the sight of everyone gathered. Castiel could already hear the people around him talk in wonder on the man's surprise death. The gurney hit a sink and the boys' body bag split slightly open and something rolled out of it. Castiel moved forward to intercept it as it rolled for him and picked it up. An officer went to him and held him back.<p>

"Stay back sir," the officer said as he led Castiel back with the others. "What did you just pick up?"

"Just this," he said as he gave the officer a quarter.

"I see." He brought out his hand to take it. "Quarter or not, please don't try to remove anything from the crime scene. Castiel gave it to him without an issue.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to the officer as he went to walk back into the crowd. He brought down his hand to catch what he truly picked up from the floor that he slipped into his sleeve. It was a gold coin with something etched into it. It didn't look like the other coins used by humans in their trading; it was pure gold.

"I don't believe it," said the reporter who had walked up next to him.

"Yeah, another one?" said her cameraman. "What does that make…nine in the last two months?"

"I know…there is a story here, I know it. Picture the headlines Hector. 'Epidemic of Sudden Heroes to Fallen Heroes.' Think of the ratings."

Castiel narrowed his eyes at that. He remembered Jeannette saying something about people doing heroic acts around here but he hadn't heard that deaths were involved as well. There seemed to be some kind of tragic patterns in the area. He wondered if it was the sort of thing that Dean and Sam would further explore. Considering the strange coin he just collected from the boy perhaps he should inform them. Castiel looked off to the side of the restaurant where he saw Jeannette the waitress looking slightly distressed. It shouldn't be surprising considering what had happened. There was an officer with her taking everything what she said down in a small pad. When it seemed that they were done, the officer thanked her for her time and bid her farewell which made the former angel assume that it was a good a time as any. He walked over to her and gently put his hand to her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a small gentle tone.

Jeannette shook her head. "I'm okay. A little shaken though. Teddy was just trying to help me and it got him killed."

"I hope you're not blaming yourself Jeannette. What happened wasn't your fault. Or Teddy's. He knew the risks involved in trying to help you and he did so anyone of his own choice. The ones to blame are the ones who chose to put both of you in that situation and I'm sure that they will face to what they've done one way or another in time."

Jeannette looked at Castiel for a moment before she went off in tears. The officer from before walked up to Castiel and told him that as a first class witness to the crime that he would have to come by to the station to give a full testimony. Castiel agreed as there was something from the police station that he might need.

* * *

><p>Dean and Sam were closing in on the bunker after the long drive they had from Colorado. They couldn't find any trace of any demons besides that one from the police station that could've broken in and stolen their weapons and supplies from the trunk. Dean was beyond aggravated on that. Sam was still confused about who or what could've been behind this as he had a gut feeling that maybe demons weren't the trouble this time around. Despite that he couldn't come up with anything that made sense though.<p>

The phone rang and Sam grabbed it and answered it for Dean. "Hello? Cas?" he asked as Dean looked over to him. "Where are you?" Sam was silent for a few moments as he listened to what Castiel was saying. "Okay, where are you exactly?" Sam went to write it down. "Okay, just stay there and we'll be there in a few hours."

"What's up?" Dean asked as Sam hung up.

"Cas' bus got off in Topeka and he thinks there might be a hunt there for us."

Dean eyebrows rose in surprise. "Cas found us a hunt? How'd he find it? What is it?"

"He said he would explain when we got there." Sam let out a small yawn before he furiously rubbed his eyes.

Dean noticed it. "You okay?"

"Hmm? I'm fine, why?" Sam asked clearly confused with this sudden concern.

"Are you sure? Those trials did do a number on you, ya know."

How did Dean think that was related? "I'm just feeling a little tired. That's what happens when you only get 3 hours of sleep in the last two days."

"You have over two hours now. Get some beauty sleep then," he ordered.

Sam didn't sleep though. He just looked at Dean with flinty eyes. "Dean…is everything okay?"

"No Sam, in case you haven't noticed there is a buckload of crap thrown in our way now."

"I mean with me. You keep asking me if I'm okay over every little thing. What's going on?"

Dean didn't like where Sam was taking this. "I didn't know showing concern was a crime now."

Sam wasn't going to let Dean's attitude distract him. "I get that you were scared after what happened in the church but me collapsing is the least that has happened to me compared to the other times I was close to dying. You're acting as though I was at Death's door."

Dean hated how accurate Sam's words really were. He wondered if it was right that he kept keeping his brother in the dark about what really happened.

Sam's eyes suddenly glowed as the angel within him took control. "Dean, you're not thinking of telling Sam the truth now, are you?"

"And what if I am?" he asked a little angry over this whole thing.

"Sam's condition is still quite critical. Him learning the truth now will only have him focus in expelling me and killing him at the same time."

"I know, I know. But I don't know what I am supposed to do. Say what you want about my brother but he's no idiot. He's going to realize something is up with or without me saying anything. He's close now."

"Yes, I can see that…if you prefer," he said looking over at him with mischievous eyes. "I could erase his mind of the feelings of confusion and suspicion he has acquired."

"What do you mean?"

"All the instances that he picked up on from you and the holes you left in your stories…they will be gone. You'll have a fresh start to be better in keeping him alive. A new chance to clean up your act."

This could give him a second chance in saving Sam. "You can do all that?"

The angel nodded Sam's head. "I can…of course it will take some energy but I can."

"Thanks."

He waved him off. "My pleasure but don't thank me. Just be more careful about how you act around your brother."

"I will." Dean glared at the road ahead.

He didn't see the angel smirk as he looked to the window. His eyes glowed a fierce blue as he had relinquished motor control back to Sam and he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Castiel knew it would be some time before Dean and Sam pulled into town in the Impala so he decided to take a walk to the nearest motel rather than get a ride from the police. Before becoming human he would stare into the skies unflinchingly for hours on end with no problems but now he found that he couldn't stay idle for too long. He found walking about to be quite relaxing and a good way to organize his thoughts. Right now the thing that had his thoughts were the things he found out at the police station. After answering the questions that the officers had for him and a session with their sketch artist Castiel had sneaked into the station's evidence room. He spent a half hour wondering what exactly he was meant to be looking for when he stumbled on something interesting in three plastic bags. They were pure gold coins that were the same size as the one that was off Teddy the restaurant boy's body with markings on them that were just as strange. He took them as well as wrote down the bag's numbers. He was sure that it would make more sense to Sam and Dean than it would to him.<p>

He saw a few people about but no one of any real significance. He started to cross the street but halfway he tripped over a small sink and hit his head slightly. A slight ringing was heard just on the inside of his ears and he couldn't find it in him to open his eyes right away. That was why he didn't hear someone to tell him to get off the middle of the street. A car was moving down for him and wasn't slowing down. The next thing Castiel knew was that something slammed into him and he hit the pavement again as he heard the whish of the speeding car move on by him. He looked up at his rescuer to see that it was Jeannette from the restaurant.

"Are you okay?"

"Um…a little disoriented and my head and side hurt a little bit. Other than that I'm finding everything else more or less okay."

This only made Jeannette smile and shake her head as she giggled. "You just never stop being funny, do you?" She then stood and helped him to get up. She looked at the side of Castiel's head and saw that there was some blood. "You're bleeding a bit."

Castiel reached over and wiped some of the blood off. "It's alright. It's not life threatening, at least from what I can make of it right now."

"Look…my place is just two blocks from here. Why don't I take you back there and I can take a look at it for you."

"You don't have to," he began.

She insisted. "No, but I'm going to. C'mon, I wouldn't feel right just letting you wander off. After everything lately, I need to see that someone's okay."

Before she could lead him away, Jeannette saw something by the sole of her shoe. She bent down to pick it up and saw that it seemed to be a gold looking coin or medallion. It had what looked like a three headed man with three shields and three spears. It didn't seem to be any kind of foreign type of money from what she could see. She regarded it with curiosity for another moment before she pocketed it and resumed in leading Castiel away. The two of them had attracted some attention from a few people that had witnessed that little episode but there was someone watching from afar in his car. They were tapping the top of the steering wheel with calm and controlled excitement.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 7<strong>

A/N: It looks like Castiel was paying some attention to Sam and Dean all these years after all in relating to their hunts. The three of them will be getting a good butt kicking next chapter from what is happening in this town. Castiel also explores another aspect about being human besides eating and sleeping that is quite new for him but he settles into quite well.


	8. Burden of the Mighty part 2

Chapter 8: Burden of the Mighty part two

Jeannette led Castiel to an apartment complex where she took him up to her little apartment. It was small but had a more comfortable atmosphere than a motel room did. He was led to her kitchen table where she went to a cabinet and pulled out a little white box. He sat still as Jeannette took a piece of gauze dipped in rubbing alcohol and cleaned the cut on his head.

"You know," she said as she cleaned it. "You know my name but I never caught yours."

"It's Castiel."

"Castiel? That's a pretty name." She turned his head a bit as she looked him over. "You seem okay. I don't think you have a concussion. Is your head feeling okay?"

"I am feeling a bit of a sting but I think that might be from that alcohol you used," he said bluntly.

Jeannette smiled at him as she got a tiny bandage for his head. "You know most guys try to sound tough and just say fine but not you."

He hoped that he didn't do something wrong. "I'm sorry if I have offended you."

"No, no," she said quickly. "It's nice…different. You're different. Everything about you is different from your name to how you talk. I like it."

She leaned in to apply the medical tape over his cut. He felt a bit more stings before she finished.

"Thank you," he mumbled as she went to pack up her first aid kit. "You never had to trouble yourself over me Jeannette."

She waved it off. "You can call me Jean and it was nothing. I'm glad that someone is leaving my side today okay."

Castiel could see that Jeannette looked quite shaken and her eyes were slightly shining. He may not be too versed in picking up emotions in others yet but he could see that Jeannette was feeling quite upset. It wasn't difficult to see why she was.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that today. I'm sure Teddy wouldn't want you to feel so sad because of him. He just wanted to help you."

Jeannette rubbed at her eyes. "I know but that's not why I'm upset. I'm not upset because of Teddy but for him. He was starting his senior year at the university and he was so excited about starting an internship in a month but that was taken all from him in an instant…all for my sake. His family must be devastated too." She went to lean against the refrigerator. "What upsets me most…is that when Teddy was stabbed, for a moment, I was relieved that I hadn't been the one to get hurt. That's what really hits me. I hated that I thought that as Teddy was bleeding at my feet." Tears were now freely falling from her eyes.

When he saw that she was heavily crying he stood up from the chair and took her head into his chest. She cried into him as he wrapped his arms around her torso to hold her as she let loose all her anguish and guilt. Castiel wished he still had his wings to further wrap around her to help her feel more at ease but he hoped that what he was doing would be enough.

"It's alright Jeannette. What you felt was a case of relief and it's very…human."

"Then humans stink. Maybe what you had said earlier was spot on. Maybe we have been portrayed negatively lately because lately that's all we can be."

"No, not always. The difference is what you're feeling now. You are not part of the negative side of humanity. The ones that are negative are the ones that threatened you and took Teddy's life. They are without remorse and regret and if they weren't then they would have turned themselves in to face up to what they've done. You aren't in the wrong and you feel so much for Teddy. Remorse and that is just as human as the relief and is one of the best thing about humans."

She squealed through her tears. "It still stinks."

"I think I agree."

He didn't know how long they had been standing there staring at each other letting her tears run their course. When they dried out they kept their solemn gazes on each other. Castiel didn't know why but suddenly his heart was beating very fast now and a sort of haze was coming over his eyes. The next thing that he knew was his lips were rubbing against Jeannette's. This wasn't his first kiss but it still felt so. The feelings behind it seemed much more focused and intense. Jeannette started to move the two of them towards her bedroom where they settled on her bed. Castiel had his coat and his shirt unbuttoned and pushed off his shoulders and he felt the slightly sweaty hands going across his back where she went to the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off to leave his torso bare in front of her. Cas' hands went to take off Jeannette's blouse. He began moving his lips down to her chin and began making his way to her neck. Her breathing became harder and her grip on his bare back got tighter. He started to pull her blouse off leaving her in a simple cotton bra. He began to lower himself even further as he kissed gently down to the side of her breasts. The heat that Castiel was feeling both within him and around him was the most stimulating he had felt in a long time but it was one that he found pleasantly addicting.

More clothes came off and soon they were a twisted and frenzied flurry of limbs as their moans and groans combined as well. The rhythm they set started slow but it soon escalated to lightning speed. Castiel couldn't stop running his hands across Jeannette's smooth thighs as he thrusted into her. He closed his eyes as he listened to her sighs and felt her hands grip his shoulders. The sighs and her grip became intensive when she finally came undone under him and he soon followed after her with a choked groan. They laid there with her head resting on his chest as they both gazed up at the ceiling letting themselves rest from their recent activity.

"That was nice," he mumbled.

That made Jeannette giggle even more. Castiel was coming to like the sound of it.

"Even how you are after sex is different. Most guys just like to be quiet right after it."

"Do you like it as well?"

It turned into an all-out laugh. "It's okay Castiel." She snuggled up to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer.

They only stayed that way for about 10 minutes or so when a ringing sounded off.

"I think that's mine," Castiel said as he got up to look for his pants to get to his phone. He looked at the screen to see that it was Dean calling. "Yes Dean, I'm here."

"_Where's here? We're at the motel that you told us about. What room are you in?"_

"Oh…I haven't officially checked in yet." The time had gotten away from him.

He sounded confused. "_Why? What's going on? Where are you?_"

Castiel told them that he would meet them at the motel after they checked themselves in. He began to get dressed.

"I'm sorry but I have to go. I have people waiting for me."

"Oh," she said sitting up and keeping the blanket around her. "Will I see you again?"

"I don't know," he said as he paused in the act of putting his pants back on. "But I would like to."

She smiled. "Good night Castiel."

He smiled too. "Thank you again Jeannette."

"I told you that you can call me Jean."

Castiel finished getting dressed and left the building for the hotel. As he went off and headed for where Sam and Dean were he didn't see the figure a block away watching as he left the building and slowly tail him.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean waited in their motel room for about a half hour before Castiel knocked on their door to announce himself. As he walked in, Dean narrowed his eyes at him. He thought there was something…different about the former angel.<p>

"Cas…are you okay?"

The former angel's smile faltered a bit but his mood was still high. "What do you mean Dean?"

"Well, you called us to come here. Said you had an emergency case for us and you show up at the motel that you asked to meet us almost an hour after we call you when we get here. Where were you?"

"Oh, I was with…someone."

"Someone?" Sam said. "This someone have a name?"

"Of course, her name is Jeannette."

Dean remembered seeing a smile like that on Cas' face when he went to that alternate future when he met the Castiel that was into drugs and sex orgies. He shared a look with Sam and he could see a similar conclusion forming in his head about their friend too. Dean had to resist the urge to start laughing.

"So what happened with Jeannette?" Dean said still fighting his urge to laugh.

"Dean," his brother warned.

Castiel wasn't disturbed or irked by this topic at all. "She merely invited me to her place to help treat me after she saved me from a speeding car."

"A speeding car? That wouldn't-" Dean caught himself. He had almost forgotten that something like that would more than hurt his friend. Despite him now being human, Castiel seemed the same so it was hard to actually believe that he was now as human as himself and Sam. Now he was feeling a little embarrassed for forgetting something like that and he wanted to change the subject quickly. "So, what did you call us here for?"

Castiel went to sit down in a chair next to Sam. "It would seem that there have been a number of people in this town that seemed to display high stakes heroics out of nowhere. From what I heard, they were just ordinary people who were suddenly self-made into heroes in a near instant. Just recently, a young man working in a restaurant braved going into a burning building to rescue a girl still stuck inside."

That's why he called them here? Dean was expecting disappearances or maybe even talks of a possible haunting but not some sudden bits of good deeds.

"I have to be honest Cas, that's not really much to go on."

"Yeah," Sam said agreeing with Dean. "What makes you so sure that it's our kind of thing?"

"For starters, every single one of those people are now dead. I overheard that they've all died within these last few weeks."

Okay, Sam and Dean thought that was enough to raise an eyebrow.

"Also," Castiel continued. "That young man just died yesterday afternoon, right in front of me and this was on him."

He produced a coin and gave it to Sam. Sam looked the coin over.

"_This_ was on that restaurant guy?" he asked Castiel who nodded.

"Why?" asked Dean. "What is it?"

"It's gold. Pure, solid gold. No city restaurant worker would have something like that. Also…I think the writing on this coin might be ancient greek."

Dean took the coin to have a look himself. "Yep, it's all greek to me." He said smiling at his own little joke. Sam just blankly at him while Cas looked lost like usual.

Castiel went into his pocket to show the other three coins he found at the police station that he found as well as the paper that he wrote the case numbers. They had ancient greek writing too but the images on them all were different. One of them were of a tusked boar, an image of a horse and the last had a sort of bird of prey on them.

Dean went through the coins one by one and he officially felt creeped out. "So, it looks like we do have a case then."

"I'll see what I can dig up on these other 'sudden heroes' and get some addresses." Sam opened his laptop and started to look up the victims.

"I'll try to look up these designs," Dean said flipping the coin up in the air and catching it.

Dean's eyes were on the feminine archer displayed on the front of the first coin. For some reason, looking at the image made his arms get goosebumps. That was strange because images of girls don't usual have that kind of effect on him.

"What can I do?" Castiel asked.

"Don't worry Cas, I think we got it from here." Dean said as he settled on his bed to begin trying to look into the coins.

Outside in the motel's parking lot, the figure that followed Castiel from Jeannette's watched the window of their room with a savage and snarling smile on his lips.

* * *

><p>Dean interviewed some friends of the fallen while Sam went to investigate all these incidents that these victims seemed to shine as heroes in. The first one was a janitor at the local high school who pushed a pair of kids out of the way as an air conditioner off a high building fell. He then went on to help a boy that was pushed in the deep end of a pool by bullies that couldn't swim well. He jumped in to help him even though he couldn't swim himself. Another was a secretary that helped a man who was having a heart attack in the street with CPR. She kept on doing other good deeds until she drove her car in the way of a drunken driver that would've hit an old woman and her granddaughter and she was killed in the collision. Another was a man that worked as a cashier at a store who caught a reckless boy who lost his grip as he was scaling a high fence to retrieve a baseball that was caught up there. Later he pulled a man that was assaulting a woman in an alley that hit him over the side of the head with a piece of brick that was nearby. They were all tragic heroes but Sam couldn't help but respect the acts and intentions themselves though he wished that these people had been more careful with how they handled them all.<p>

Dean heard nearly the same thing about these victims: They were normal people that were decent enough but suddenly got a bite of a hero bug. He found no EMF readings or any signs of demons at their homes or at the locations where they had their moment in the spotlight. He visited the high school where the first victim worked to see if there was anything strange. He was patient zero. Nothing at the school seemed to jump out at him as he made his way to the janitor's office. Most of the guys possessions were in boxes as the guy had died near two months ago. Dean ruffled through the guy's things but didn't see anything out of the ordinary until a shimmer from the overhead light reflected something in the corner of the box. It was another one of those gold coins. This one had a great lion on it.

Dean took out his phone and dialed up Sam as Dean exited the school and went for his car. "Sam?" he said when he heard the click. "What's up?"

"_Just checking in. I got back to the room just a few minutes ago."_

"You have any luck finding anything about these people's records?"

"_No, these people's histories are clean. Nothing unusual that I could see on any of them. I even checked the coroner's reports and there was nothing odd about the bodies. I even visited the morgue to see the latest victims and nothing jumped out at me. Did you find anything?"_

Dean took the coin out to look at it. "Yep, another collector's gold coin. This one has a lion on it."

"_A lion?"_ There was a small silence until Sam eagerly asked Dean what kind of lion.

"Do I look like a zookeeper? How am I supposed to know one lion from another?"

_"Yeah, right. But this coin, who had it?"_

"It was in that janitor's office. The one that saved those kids from that falling AC and who later drowned."

_"The janitor; he was the first victim, right?"_

Dean nodded even though his brother couldn't see it. "Yahtzee. Why does that matter?"

_"Get back here. I think I might know what is going on."_

He made it to the Impala. "I'm on my way. Mind telling me what's happening?"

_"I want to see that coin first and see if I'm right or not. Besides I could use some help in research if I'm right."_

"What about Cas? Maybe you can help teach him."

"_I would, if he were here. He took off a little while ago."_

Dean arrived at the motel room and was standing off to the side as Sam examined the coin. "Well?" he asked after his brother turned the coin over for the fourth time.

"I was right. This is the Nemean Lion."

Dean was taken aback. "The Nemean Lion? I know that…" he snapped his fingers repeatedly as the information was on the tip of his mind. "That was a…something to do with Hercules."

"A Labor. It was one of his labors. In fact, it was his first labor and you found it on the first victim. These coins that Cas gave us are other labors. The Capture of the Erymanthian Boar, the Cleaning of Augean Horse Stables, and the slaying of the Slymphalian Birds," he said as he showed them the three coins that Cas found in the evidence lockers.

Dean went to the one that Cas found on the last victim. The one with the female archer. "So, this one is-?"

"The girdle from the Queen of the Amazons," he answered.

Amazons. That explained why Dean felt the creeps from that coin. That was one memory that he still carried the scars of.

"So why would all these people have these coins? What exactly are we dealing with here."

Sam clicked onto a tab that showed an image of a gladiator looking warrior. "The coins are a sign from Hercules. He was a demigod that became a full god by his father Zeus. He became a deity of braves and heroes. It turns out he gives the coins to people who he strengthens the heroic natures that latent heroes have within them. He helps people become examples of bravery and hope for humanity."

"Then we're dealing with a god." Been a while since they tackled one of those. "So, what…Sorbo strolls into a town and turns nobodies that hardly get noticed into do-gooders that everyone sees?"

Sam shrugged. "I guess you could put it that way. But there is one thing we have to think about. Whenever Hercules does this, he chooses twelve people. The Amazon Girdle was the ninth labor and nine people have died."

Dean understood what Sam was trying to say. "So we got to find and stop this guy before three more poor mooks get famous around here."

* * *

><p>Castiel came across a man that had a cart full of roses for sale. He remembered seeing some men giving women a flower and though it seemed like Jeannette liked him being different than normal he thought that she would like this normal gesture. He bought a good fresh one from the man and kept moving for Jeannette's building. He found a smile creeping on his face the closer he got. When he reached the building his smile was starting to show teeth. He entered and nearly danced up the steps as he rose through the floors of the building. His smile finally dropped when he saw the door to Jeannette's room ajar. The frame had a few cracks in it like it had been slammed into.<p>

"Jeannette," he softly called as he walked in.

The apartment didn't seem too worse for wear. There were a few things strewn on the floor like they had been knocked down by someone rushing through the room. Castiel set his rose on the kitchen counter as he headed off for the bedroom. He hoped there was nothing wrong and he merely missed Jeannette who was in a hurry to head somewhere like work or something else. The bedroom seemed fine except he saw a shimmer in the center of the mattress. He saw that it was a gold coin on top of a note. It was solid gold coin with Ancient Greek writing on it. He looked at the note and read the first few lines before he sped out the door.

* * *

><p>Castiel showed the brothers the note along with the coin that was on it. Sam was reading the note and Dean was turning the coin over in his fingers.<p>

"To Castiel: Jeannette is in my care. If you want to see her returned then you must bring to me Dean and Sam Winchester me before midnight tonight. It's signed Hercules," he said as he folded it.

"What would Hercules want with the two of you?" Castiel asked them.

"Well, we did kill his father Zeus a while ago. I think he might be a little upset about that." Dean could understand the anger towards a father's killer. "What labor is that one?" Dean asked as he turned the coin over in his hand. "Finding a three headed woman for this guy?"

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean. "That's Geryon. A three headed monster that Hercules had to get passed in order to steal his cattle. What I want to know is why Hercules would leave one of those coins with this girl."

"Jeannette did save me from a runaway driver. Pulled me out of the way before I could be hit by the car probably saving my life before treating my injury."

"Another do-gooder. Where does Hercules want to throw down anyway?"

"He wrote some coordinates in the note. It's to a condemned parking lot area set for demolition."

"We have to get there now!" Castiel said a little hysterically. "Jeannette is in trouble."

Dean went over and held him back. "Whoa, watch it Casanova. Don't worry, we'll help your girl but first we have to know how. How are we going to stop Hercules?"

"I did some research on that. It looks like we'll need a bronze weapon imbued with Zeus' grace."

"Zeus' grace?" Dean asked a bit lost.

"I think that means electricity. Zeus would often grace the earth with bolts of lightning bringing light, fire and wrath down on anything and everything. So we need to run electricity through a bronze weapon."

"We have a bronze dagger in the trunk. We could hook up the car battery to it."

Car batteries do have a good jolt on them. Sam thought that was as good a plan as any. Better than standing with a bronze dagger out in a thunderstorm. "That might work."

"Might?" asked Castiel.

"We've done good with less." Dean said trying to reassure his friend.

It didn't.

* * *

><p>The parking lot looked just as gloomy as it did from the picture they had pulled up from the net. There was a small glow of light seen from the third level that they could see from the bottom. They broke the look on the front of the fence and drove into the demolition zone.<p>

"Maybe you shouldn't go in Cas," Dean said as they got out of the Impala.

"I'm sorry but I'm not going to be sitting this car and wait. Jeannette put herself in harm's way for me and that is what got her involved in the first place."

"Yeah but Cas you aren't an angel anymore and we are going up against a god here. You could really get hurt in there."

"So could you and Sam but you both are going in regardless of that fact," Castiel argued back.

"Dean," Sam said putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "If we leave him here then he's just going to follow us in as soon as he can. We're not going to stop him. Let's just let him come in with us where we could watch him."

Dean huffed. "Fine, but do what we say and stay behind us."

"Fine," he agreed.

The three of them walked into the bottom level of the parking lot with no real incident happening. They climbed up the two levels to the third floor where they saw the light. They quietly stepped into the level and saw candles a fire in a barrel lighting up the wide center with a chair in the middle. There was someone sitting there with some whimpering escaping from her lips.

"Jeannette!" Castiel let out as he tried to run for her but the Winchesters held him back.

"Hold it," Dean said as they looked around for any sign of the god. This just screamed trap to him.

"Took you long enough! Trying to wait until nightfall where it would be easier to sneak in. All too predictable. It's a good thing I set up all this light up ahead of time huh?"

A figure stepped out from behind a column a little bit aways into the light. Castiel recognized him. He was the cameraman for that reporter that was at the restaurant. Dean snorted.

"You're Hercules?"

Hercules nodded. "I am."

"Dude…I was expecting a buff looking mountain muscle man. You…you're kind of a let down from all those old films."

He slammed his hand back into the column beside him where a chunk came clean off. "I really hate being compared to those steroid buffs. The only thing strong about them are their stupid chins. Put a sharp object in their way and they run for the hills. Makes being a hero look like such a cliché."

"Let Jeannette go!" Castiel demanded.

He smiled at Castiel before he nodded. "I don't see the harm in that." He went over and snapped the ropes keeping her tied to the chair and she immediately took off for the boys. She went for Castiel and he took her into her arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm okay but Castiel, what's going on?"

Sam and Dean walked up to stand closer to the god.

"You wanted to see us?" Sam asked as they faced him down.

"Well, you got us." Dean pulled out the bronze dagger. "You really are brave but you're not too smart are you?"

Hercules just chuckled. "You think I'm scared of you just because you pull that out?"

"That's how I know you're not smart."

Hercules chuckled. He looked towards Sam. "Sam Winchester. Here," he said as he went through his pocket. He then tossed something at him. "For you."

Sam caught it. It was another of Hercules coins depicting a labor. This time the image was of an apple. "Your eleventh labor: Stealing the golden apples of Hersperides."

Hercules nodded as he was impressed. "You're a smart man. I may not be your biggest fan seeing as how you helped destroy my father but I can't deny that you are a good man. Sam Winchester, you are a hero." He then showed them one more coin he had in his possession. "Catch Castiel." He threw the coin for the former angel who managed to catch it. "I don't give those to one of you but seeing as you're full on human now, you qualify."

"Spare me. I'm not into collecting coins," Dean said wanting to tear those coins from their fingers.

"Don't flatter yourself Dean Winchester. I present those coins to those that are heroes or are capable of being heroes and you are neither."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "I don't mean to tute my own horn but I think there are a buckload of people out there that might disagree with you."

Hercules sucked on his teeth. "Please, you think that because you're a hunter who tracks and kills things of the night that it makes you a hero? Heroes are my business and you sir are no hero. Far from it actually."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dean growled at the god but Sam held him back.

"Then what are you doing to the heroes here anyway?" asked Sam.

"Doing? Nothing," he answered starting to pace a little. "This world is changing for the worst these days. It seems that people get their rocks off seeing such terrible things happen to good people. They line up outside crime scenes or push and watch relics and videos where nasty things happen to people like its theatre. Humans get more excited hearing about terrible things rather than good things. Back in my day, the people used to spread stories of bravery and heroics. They would line up to get glimpses of people who showed the world the glory of laying everything on the line for everyone even if it costs them everything to try and make things right. That's what I do. I find people who have it in them to be examples of good for this rotting world. Then I help spread the word and what better way to do that than in local news media. Good people doing good things are far better than violence and terror typical to your 6 o'clock news." He looked to Jeannette. "You Jeannette…surely it worked for you and a few others in your restaurant when you saw Teddy after hearing of him selflessly running off to save that girl? Made you want to be a better person yourself. Help and save others as well. The fact that I gave you a coin should show you that you have the potential to be an example to those around you."

"What good is being an example if it gets you killed?" asked Dean. "Those people couldn't stop themselves once they got started."

"You think that what happened to them is my fault? I didn't drown, stab or run into any of them. That is the price that heroes must pay in the line of doing good for the world. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good but you still do so knowing that what you left behind will make the world better. The fact that you don't know that Dean is why you are no hero. That's why I'll enjoy taking your hide and ripping it apart for what happened to my father. I won't deny that the man wasn't perfect but he was still my father. Sam…you I will feel a little sorrow for. I would rather you out there doing what you do best for the world but you must answer for your part as well."

Hercules then let loose a small shockwave that sent the hunter flying backwards in the air where he rolled down a few paces.

"Dean!" Sam shouted off before he ran towards Hercules with a hunting knife.

The god grabbed Sam's wrist and stopped the move to stab him in its place. "You feel that you are so unworthy of so much Sam when the fact is that you have more than proven yourself. It's a shame that you've allowed your brother to make you believe otherwise."

He then disarmed him and grabbed the lapels of his jacket and hurled him across the lot where he slid all the way to hit a column. Hercules then went for the uneasy couple. Castiel stood in front of Jeannette as he approached.

"Stay behind me," he said as he tried to block view of her from Hercules.

However, Hercules held his hands up in submission. "You seem to have the wrong idea of me. I have no desire to hurt you both. Just turn around and leave."

"And leave my friends here to suffer punishment at your hands? I'm sorry but I can't in good conscience do that."

He then tried to throw Hercules a punch but he effortlessly blocked it. "I didn't want to hurt you Castiel but you are leaving me little choice now." He then picked him up and threw him towards where Dean was still lying.

Hercules started to stomp over to the former angel when he felt something hit the back of his head. He looked down to see that it was a rock of cement. It had come from Jeannette.

"Leave Castiel alone," she said defiantly.

Hercules just rolled his eyes. "You too? Maybe I picked my heroes a little too well."

Castiel saw that he was heading for Jeannette and he felt a rush of energy and everything seemed to be super focused. He took note of the bronze dagger Dean still held tight in his grasp and he pried it out of his grip as he ran at the god and jumped on his back. Hercules twisted and turned to try and throw him off but Castiel took the knife and jammed it right in front of his heart. Hercules froze in place as Castiel fell off of his back and Jeannette ran to him. They backed away as Sam ran to them. Dean started to stir a bit and looked blurry eyed at Hercules who was clutching the blade in silent agony.

"Too well indeed," he managed to choke out before he fell backwards with a thud.

* * *

><p>Castiel was sitting in front of Jeannette in her home as he tried to explain everything that had happened. Needless to say that she was a little overwhelmed by it all but she seemed interested as well.<p>

"I'll never look at those old Hercules movies the same way again," she said finally with a small laugh. "So then," she said sobering up. "This is what you do…deal with monsters and gods wherever they pop up?"

"Sometimes," he answered a little timidly. "To be honest I prefer smiting demons."

Jeannette's eyes widened. "Okay, something new that I don't want to think about." She steered her mind away from all this new bit of monster talk and went to grab his hand. "And here I thought that my life wouldn't exciting anytime soon."

"It is stimulating but I find enjoying the sunshine during a warm day to be more enjoyable at times."

She smiled at him as she took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "Castiel…thank you; for saving me."

He was caressing her hand just as lightly. "You saved me first Jeannette. You put yourself in true harm's way to help me, a total stranger."

"I told you that you could call me Jean. Besides, I thought all that sudden hero stuff was just Hercules messing with my mind."

"He merely tapped into the heroic impulses that were already present. You are truly a person that is willing to step into danger for the sake of others. Simply exercise it with more caution and you are truly a needed hero to be had around here."

"And you're a hero to be had out there. If you weren't I wouldn't be here right now."

"I haven't felt like much of a hero recently. I've…done some things in my time that were far from heroic."

"Well you were my hero last night. You got one of those coins from him too so maybe you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

Castiel smiled slightly. "You don't even know what I've done Jean."

"No, I might not but I can see that whatever it was you aren't proud of it. You probably want to try and make up for it and I have to say that you're on the right track…though I might be a bit biased considering that it involved saving me."

That made Castiel laugh a bit. He often heard Dean say that he didn't have a good sense of humor but he found a great deal of it in Jeannette. Perhaps Dean just wasn't as funny as he thought he was.

"Well…you are right in that I have unresolved things to see to out there in the world. My friends and I have to leave."

Jeannette took a sticky note and wrote down her number. "Here," she said handing it to him. "If you ever want to talk, don't be afraid to call or even visit from time to time Castiel."

"You can call me Cas."

The two of them stood close by each other as they gazed down at each other's lips before Castiel took the initiative and gently leaned in and brushed his lips together with Jeannette's as she softly ran a hand at Castiel's cheek while he gripped her sides. He was quite liking this bit of human interaction _very much_.

* * *

><p>Dean was waiting outside the building outside the Impala while Sam was in the front seat looking things up on his computer. His mind went back to what Hercules said. How he wasn't a hero. He'd spent years wondering why he had to be a hero and a god of heroes said that he wasn't one? What did that mean? Hadn't he saved countless people and ask for nothing in return? If that wasn't the definition of a hero then he was a monkey's uncle. Considering that Sam hadn't bedded any monkeys (that he knew of) then Hercules didn't know what he was talking about. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for people, especially for his brother's sake. He'd proved that before, especially recently with allowing that angel possess his brother to save him from Death. Seeing his brother in the car alive and well was worth it.<p>

Sam was having thoughts on what Hercules said to them as well. He knew he had done some very terrible things in his time: Running away from his family, trusting Ruby over Dean, drinking demon blood and a bunch of other terrible things when he didn't have his soul on top of them. Yet, Hercules said that Sam had the makings of a real hero, one who was willing to risk and give up his own life for that of others in an instant. Odd as it was, Sam actually felt grateful to the god. It was like a weight he didn't realize was on him was lifted off from his shoulders.

The front doors to the building swung open and Castiel appeared out of them with a small content smile on his face.

Dean lifted himself off the side of his car and walked over to him. "Ah, look who's doing the walk of shame now."

Cas just raised his eyebrows. "What do I have to be ashamed about?" he asked in confusion.

Dean just laughed and rolled his eyes. "Nothing," he chuckled. "Nothing as long as the girl was happy with your work."

"Jean did give me her number." He showed them the paper he got from her. "It will be nice to have someone else to talk to from time to time."

"Yeah, perks of being a hero Cas. Let me give you some Hookup 101 facts. One: when a girl gives you her number it's a chance to do anything but talk. Two: that deserves one of these." Dean then went and slapped his hand a little hard on Cas's back. "Thataboy"

Sam just shook his head and rolled his eyes. Castiel got in the back of the Impala as Dean went for the driver's seat. They pulled out and headed off for the bunker.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 8<strong>

A/N: I hope that you all liked Castiel's little hookup. I thought that it sucked that Castiel's first sex experience was met with having to kill the one who took his virginity. Yeah, this one wasn't perfect either but at least he could look back on the girl with fondness. The things Hercules said to Dean and Sam are actually a window to issues that they will have to deal with as times goes on. Personally, I think that Sam is a man who feels the need to never stop trying to repent for things that he has long been forgiven for. He feels he owes the world but he's proven that he will do what he has to for it already when he was willing to suffer the cage for all eternity. Also, when he saw that Amelia's ex was back he chose to sacrifice what could've been his chance to settle down for her to have her ex back with no complications. Dean, on the other hand, he is willing to sacrifice anything and everything but only when it comes to the sake of his family. What **_he_** wants for his family comes first no matter what despite it might hurting or destroying everything else. His entire attitude during Season 8 proved that. He put so many people through pain for the sake of the gates of hell being closed, saying that sealing hell would be worth anything but when the price for him to pay was the loss of his brother for good it suddenly wasn't worth it anymore. That ultimately is what is going to cause problems that will be damn near unrepairable in the future. One more note, I have put an image link of the angel currently inside of Sam, or rather his former vessel, on my profile. Also who I had in my head for Agent Donavan. If anyone wants to take a peek at them is welcome to. Tell me if you think they're fitting or not.

The next episode here will be called Heaven's Most Wanted. A series of incidents where people take their issues too far leads Team Free Will to confront someone from heaven that isn't so divine. Also, the consequences of failing the Trials takes shape and gives Abaddon some much needed clout in securing power in hell in the form of a new player to the game.


	9. Heaven's Most Wanted

Chapter 9: Heaven's Most Wanted

It was over half an hour after they left Topeka after Castiel said goodbye to his girl with them heading back for the Bunker. Dean was happy to be riding the road with Sam beside him and Castiel safe and sound in the backseat. Dean looked over to the side to see Sam looking over a few printouts. He seemed to be focused on what he was looking over and didn't notice his brother watching him. Dean looked up at the mirror to see Castiel calmly looking out the window at the passing scenery. He seemed to be quite content with the sight of the passing hills and road. It reminded him of when he was in the car with his dad at the wheel as he wondered where he was being brought to next.

It made a small smile graze his face. The entire situation despite what was really going on. Sam was possessed by an angel to keep him alive as he slowly heals him while Cas was now recently human with his grace stolen. As for Dean, he is the one to watch over and try to help both of them through this time on top of Abaddon raising hell and all the angels now on the earth. Despite all that, he was smiling. They were all back together again and that's all that mattered to him.

What he didn't know about the situation was that in the cushion behind Castiel's back was a small tracking device that was sending a signal to a console in another car across the country. The red dot representing the Impala was shown to driving down the Interstate away from Topeka. It was being looked down at by Agent Donavan before he put it down in the seat beside him as he pulled his car out of the Interstate he was on.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p>A great metal gate started to open to make way for a car pulling in to drive the small private road that led to a grand manor house. There were great lawns and flower patches decorating the estate that the driver in the car admired as he drove past them. He pulled up the front of the house and parked the car. The back trunk of the car popped open and the driver went to open it and pulled out a box from it. He went up to the front door and gave them a good knock. It wasn't long before they opened to see a man in a simple jacket open slightly over a T-shirt and dark jeans looking through the crack at him.<p>

"Agent Donavan," he said softly. "Come in. You're expected."

"Thank you Ezekiel sir," he said with a small bow before he walked in.

Ezekiel led Donavan through the manor's fine halls until they came to the doors to the study. Donavan made sure to try to walk upright and a half a step behind this man. He always felt compelled to show the angels a great degree of respect whenever he came here. They reached the study and Ezekiel knocked to announce themselves.

"Joseph sir, I don't mean to interrupt but Agent Donavan has come with the items he procured from the Winchesters as well as the other item for us."

"Oh not at all," Donavan heard. "Please show him in."

The study had Renaissance era paintings of Michael slaying Lucifer from at least three different painters. The carpet had an enochian symbol in the center of the room that was of the Battalion's crest. The desk at the front had someone sitting in front of it and someone behind it. The one in front looked behind him to smile at him. He smiled at the sight of Daniel Leonard.

"Hey Logan," he said giving him a small wave.

"Hey Danny." Donavan then nodded his head to the angel that sat behind the desk. "Joseph."

"Logan Donavan. It's nice to see you again."

He stepped forward and put the box he was holding on the table. "Here's all the things I took from the Winchesters."

Daniel got out of the chair to go through the contents of the box. He pulled out the two angel blades inside. "I for one feel better that these are out of the hands of those rabid mongrels."

Joseph chuckled as he leaned back into his chair. "Yes…but these mongrels are still dangerous Daniel. They shouldn't be underestimated."

"Well when we humans deal with rabid and unpredictable mongrels we tend to tag them." He then took out a small handheld device. "Which I did to their car. Thanks to this you will know where they are, so long as they don't discover my tracker. I hid it quite well though, inside the lining of their car's backseat."

Joseph took the tracker from Donavan and turned it on. It was working perfectly. "They are in Kansas."

"Yes, they've been there for the last few days. In the area of Topeka to be exact. They only started moving out of the area over an hour ago."

"This will be a great help, thank you."

"All in the service of God and his true angels," he said as he made a cross in front of his chest. "Well, I must be off. I have to move on to my next assignment from the bureau."

"Of course. Ezekiel, may you show Agent Donavan out please?"

Ezekiel nodded before he led Donavan out leaving Joseph and Daniel alone again in the study. Daniel came over and took the tracker to see the Winchesters' current position.

"Looks like they are on an Interstate," he said staring at the screen. "You should move in on them now."

"I would if I could Daniel. Unfortunately, there is still much for me to do here. Nazareth is bringing some new angels in to this compound and I will be busy evaluating them to see if they are sincere in their wish to join us. The last thing we need now is moles worming their way and endangering our plans."

"Oh, right. Well…how about you let me handle finding the Bunker?"

Joseph was surprised by his eagerness. "You? Are you sure you are ready for something like that?"

Daniel nodded. "I am. Let me call in some of our contacts in that area and we can find their bunker's location."

"Daniel, I admire your loyalty to the Battalion but this won't be a simple reconnaissance. Those two have a knack for attracting trouble. With this new power vacuum amongst the demons and with unstable fallen angels and now the rogue angels out there it will not be a safe mission. And what of the Winchesters themselves? They show very little restraint against things that get in their way."

"I understand that but I still want to do it. I understood what I signed up for when I decided to be involved. I can handle it Joseph, I promise."

He was almost pleading. Joseph seemed to deflate in his resistance against the idea. However there was still one thing to consider.

"Very well, I can see that your mind is made up. Even if I said no, you humans are likely to do it anyway when someone says no regardless."

"We all don't do that," he defended.

"But you would, wouldn't you?" His silence was all the assurance he needed. "If you are going to go at least allow Jedediah to go with you."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "You're asking me for permission? You are not going to order for Jedediah to come along as well anyway?"

Joseph smiled down at him. "Well, yes, but I know you humans like to be asked anyway even if you don't get a choice."

Daniel should've guessed and he rolled his eyes. "Sure, why not? Not like I do have a choice, right?"

The angel shook his head with a smirk on his features. "Not at all," he said in slight amusement.

"So Jedediah is coming along for the ride? He's not much for conversation but I know he'll watch over me and the others good, I know that." Daniel dropped the joking smile after a few seconds and became serious. "We won't be back here until we get the angel tablet. I swear it Joseph."

"You have never given me any reason to doubt you and I know you won't start now." Joseph went to the box that Donavan left and pulled out one of the blades he had taken. "Take this with you."

He then held up his hands stepping back slightly from the blade. "No, I shouldn't. Those are your weapons."

"Take it," he insisted as he went and put it in Daniel's hand. "It'll be better in your hands then it would collecting dust here." He then went to his desk and pulled out a drawer door on it to reveal a safe. He pushed in the code and it opened and he pulled out a small box that fit in the palm of his hand. He then went and gave it to Daniel. "You will be needing this when you discover the Bunker."

Daniel took the box and opened it a bit to peek inside. Once he saw what it was he nodded to Joseph before he left the study. Joseph looked down at the symbol stitched into the room's carpet before he looked up at the nearest portrait on the wall.

"We are getting closer and not even the Winchesters will stand in the way. Despite them feeling like they can overcome anything because of their pasts, let's see them try to overcome other humans with bright futures for heaven. A better one."

Daniel was making his way through the manor with a travel bag packed with some changes of clothes and other things he would need on the road. He was also on the phone as he headed for the front door.

"Alright. Dennis and Riley should head over for your place, well, if they can." "I'm leaving now." "Yeah. We'll be there around Thursday and then we catch up to them with the tracker." "Okay see you then." He then hung up the phone as he reached for the door where Ezekiel was standing guard and waiting for him.

"Good luck Daniel," he said as he opened the door for him. "I will pray for your success."

"And I will pray to you the strength to succeed."

He walked out to the front of the house to see a black man with a shaven head in a suit and leather trenchcoat leaning on the roof of a car with the driver's seat door open.

"Ready to go?" he asked as Daniel made his way over.

"Yeah. I'm all set Jedediah. Phil is waiting for us in Memphis to join us with back up for the rest of the way."

"Then let's get going," he said as he went into the driver's seat.

Daniel breathed out a little annoyed. "This is going to be a long drive," he mumbled. Daniel stuck his bag in the trunk and went for the front seat by Jedediah as he started to car for them to head out.

* * *

><p>The Impala pulled up front to the Bunker's entrance as Dean, Sam and Castiel exited the car and entered the Bunker.<p>

"This place is quite exquisite," Castiel said as he walked in. "With everything that was happening last time I was here I couldn't quite appreciate this place."

They walked into the study to see Kevin sitting in one of the armchairs, out like a light. Dean went over to Kevin and shook him awake. "Hey Kevin," he said as he shook him.

Kevin woke up blurry eyed as he stretched in the chair. "Hey guys."

"Have you been up all night?" Sam asked as he dropped a bag on the nearby table. "Working?"

"Almost." He wiped his eyes. "I got a little bored and went exploring around this place. You've got to let me take one of those cars out."

"What cars?" Sam asked.

Kevin raised an eyebrow at him. "The ones in the garage."

"We have a garage?" Dean said surprised. He loved this place.

"Yeah, there are like five different vintage classics parked in there."

"Oh this is great," said Dean. "Now I don't have to leave the car outside."

"Woopee," Kevin said full of sarcasm. "Hey Castiel," he said when he saw the now human angel.

"Hello Kevin. Perhaps it might be best if you take a rest in your room."

"Okay. But before I go I think I should tell you guys what I found."

"What did you find?" Dean asked as he readied himself for whatever news Kevin had for them this time.

Kevin spared him a glance but then took out the Demon Tablet. "I translated a few more lines of the Demon tablet that told about what would happen after the trials if they were failed."

Sam felt his insides freeze up. "What? What's going on?"

Kevin pulled out one of his notes. "It says that for failing to banish the demons would instead summon a demon that is among the worst of the worst. It says that the 'Father of Murder' would ascend the earth and bring forth a wave of blood and death to wash over the land."

Sam and Dean were lost at what that could mean but Castiel's face had gone pale.

"The Father of Murder? Are you sure that you translated that correctly?" he asked desperately hoping that Kevin made a mistake.

Kevin rubbed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah. I triple checked. That's what it says."

"What? Cas, what is it?" asked Dean as he wondered just what it is that has the former angel looking like he saw a ghost. "What's this 'Father of Murder'?"

"The Father of Murder; that is the title that belongs to the wicked Cain."

Sam's eyes nearly popped out of its sockets. "Cain? As in Cain and Abel, that Cain?"

"That's the one," said Kevin. "I even checked it with Crowley. I'm fine," when he saw Dean and Sam look at him in shock. "We just talked. He told me that it was Cain too."

"Cain," Dean said testing the name against his lips. "He's the guy who killed his brother Abel, right?"

"Yes," answered Castiel. "This was long before my time but I've heard enough about him. Cain and Abel were the children of God's first human pairing Adam and Eve. Cain killed his brother Abel committing the first murder of human history. He was banished from Adam's home by both his father and God. Cain then went on to become a demon. One who specialized in killing and not just other humans. Lucifer gifted Cain with a mark that gave power to the jawbone that he used to kill his brother and transformed it into a weapon that could kill nearly anything. It is known as the First Blade."

"What happened to him?" asked Dean not liking the sound of this guy. What kind of guy kills his younger brother?

"He was banished to Hell some time ago. A spell was used to keep him bound but there would be periods where he would walk the earth but it would always be temporary."

"Yeah, Crowley told me that too," said Kevin. "But the tablet says that not completing the trials fully breaks the spell. The chant that was used after each of the trials drew power from the spell that bound Cain and spreads it through the Hell Gates to lock away all demons. However, it makes Cain's bindings unstable and if it isn't completed with the third trial then his bindings become unstable enough for him to be free completely."

Sam pushed a chair angrily away from him as he went for his room.

"Sam. Sam!" Dean cried out but his brother kept going off without stopping.

Castiel held his hand up to keep Dean from going after him. "Let him go Dean. I think he needs some time for himself now. There are some things that we need to do first."

Dean deflated. "Fine." He looked over at Kevin who was tidying up after himself. "Thanks Kevin." He just nodded but didn't look back at the older Winchester. Dean wanted one person to be in a better mood after all this. "Look kid, I'm sorry about pulling that attitude on you a few days ago. It's just…these aren't exactly the best of times here."

"Yeah, I get it Dean. Just…forget about it."

Dean nodded. He was ready to move on from that. "Alright, go and get some rest. I'm going to go park the car in our garage," he said with a small smile.

As the car was parked firmly inside the garage, hundreds of miles away a young man looking at a screen gave a start when he saw the beacon fade away from the screen.

"What the hell?!" He then cringed and looked over at Jedediah. "Sorry."

Jedediah didn't react to that but just kept his eyes firmly on the road. "What's wrong Daniel?"

Daniel looked at the tracker's monitor and saw the red dot was gone. It had been there only a moment ago and it disappeared right before his eyes. "It's the tracking device. It's not showing on the tracker anymore."

"What do you mean?" the angel asked not taking his eyes off the road.

"I've been checking the tracker every half hour and I saw that the marker hadn't moved from my last check. I was about to mark down the coordinates when it just blinked off. It's gone."

Jedediah's eyes narrowed. "You think that it was destroyed? The Winchesters might've stopped to check their car found Donavan's tracking device and then immediately destroyed it."

Daniel restarted the tracker again but it wasn't showing up again. Yet something strange did show up on the screen. "I don't know. Maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"I just tried resetting the code for the tracking device and though it doesn't show the tracking device, it shows the same general area of Kansas."

"And that is not normal?" the angel asked.

"No. If it was destroyed then it shouldn't show anything, shouldn't it?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid that your tracking technology is out of my expertise."

* * *

><p>There was a dairy farm in Wisconsin that had a turn for the worst. The farm's owner was walking through an indoor pen with a look of horror as he saw that the twelve cows he kept there were all dead. It didn't look like they had been mauled or slaughtered in any way that he could see. It was as if they just dropped dead. He was about to call the police when a strong smell found its way into his nose.<p>

"Ugh," he coughed out as he tried to shield his nose. "What is that damn smell?"

He looked around to find a two meter hole beside a dead cow. It looked to be about two meters wide and there seemed to be some kind of steam or smoke spilling out of it. It smelled of sulfur and the man had to wonder if a sewage line or something blew underground and killed his cows in this barn. He looked directly down on the hole to see that it did look like something had pushed out from it but didn't get closer as just from that distance his eyes were starting to water.

"I don't believe this," he said backing away. "Damn it. I got to get out of here, I'm about to hack out my lunch."

"If you think that it's that bad, try being in a pit that smells like this 24/7 for close to 150 years."

The farmer turned around and saw a man looking slightly dirty. His clothes were caked in it to add age to it as he was dressed like an old Civil War soldier. There was even a gun holster at his side. He was tall, straight brown hair and had a groomed beard covering his cheeks and chin.

"Who are you and what are you doing here in my barn?" he demanded.

"Hey believe me, the last place I wanted to come to was this cow barn." He then started to push the dirt off his sleeves. "Hey, do you know where I can get any decent new clothes around here?"

"That's it," he said whipping out his phone. "I'm calling the cops pal."

The man then brought his hand to the holster and brought out his weapon. It wasn't a revolver, it looked like an old jaw bone that edge was sharp as a blade. He then ran it right into the man's gut. The farmer looked up in pain and shock at his murderer to see that his eyes went black before everything went black for him.

The demon's eyes went back to normal as he wiped the blood on his weapon on the inside of his uniform jacket. "Wow, over a hundred years and that's all it takes for people to lose their manners. What a jerk." He then put his weapon back in the holster. "But hey, I'll forgive you if your taste in clothes are better than your manners. You look like my size," he quipped before walking out through the barn door.

* * *

><p>Dean came into the study with his hands holding two plates of hot food and he went over and put one beside Sam who was focused as he browsed on his computer. "Hot and freshly cooked food courtesy of Chef Dean."<p>

"Thanks," he said nodding to him before resuming his work.

Dean took a beer from the room's mini fridge and sat across from him. "You've been at your computer for hours. What's got you so hooked?"

Sam rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I'm just trying to look up stuff on Cain. If he really is here then I have to stop him."

"Don't you mean 'we' have to stop him," Dean said before taking a bite of his food.

"No, me. He's only out because I failed to complete the last trial. Now he's free and is up to who knows what out there. It's all my fault."

"Sam, it's not your fault. It's not like you pulled Cain out of hell."

"Just like it wasn't my fault that Lucifer got pulled out of hell?" he said tiredly. "This is my problem now just like it was then. I'll be the one to take care of him just like back then."

Dean could understand Sam's resolve; he just hoped that taking care of Cain worked out better than Lucifer. "So did you find anything that can help find the murdering dick?"

"I'm not sure. There's not too much lore on Cain's demonic nature to use to track him. I don't know if the usual demonic signs will work or not. I've been looking through the news to see if there is anything out of the ordinary."

"What is ordinary lately?" Dean snorted.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I've been working for hours?"

"Well, take a break and eat. Let me look for a bit."

"No, I'm okay," Sam said with his eyes still glued to the screen.

Dean went over and pulled the computer away from his brother and then pushed the plate of food he had set closer to him. Sam looked as annoyed as he felt but he relented and started eating. Dean took the laptop and started doing some searching of his own. After about ten minutes Dean called his brother's attention back on himself.

"Hey, I think I found something."

Sam was thrown for a loop and put his fork down with a clatter. "You found stuff on Cain?"

"What? Oh no, nothing on that guy but I think I found us a hunt."

Sam breathed hard from his nose. "Dean," he growled softly.

"Look Sammy, I know you want to try to find Cain. Hell, I want to find Cain too but we don't have any leads. So until we do then we go after what we can in the meantime."

"Okay," he surrendered. He didn't like it but Dean had a point. They couldn't find Cain if they didn't know where or how to look for him. "So," he said getting back to what Dean had found. "What did you find?"

"Over in Gatesville, Texas there are a few murders that happened all in the same week. It looks like normal people just go out of control and attack other people."

He then gave Sam the laptop to check them out. "Okay," he said as he skimmed through the reports that Dean dug up. "Let's finish eating and we'll head out."

"Great." Dean said as he made to finish the last of the food he had left on his plate.

* * *

><p>Daniel and Jedediah were in front of a suburban house in Memphis as they watched their helpers load up a van that they would all be riding in together. One of those men put his duffel bag in back and walked up to the two.<p>

"So where exactly is this Bunker? Where are we heading?"

Daniel scratched the back of his head. "We don't know exactly. The tracker that Logan had put in their car was running fine until yesterday when it just vanished. It was last seen somewhere in Kansas."

"It vanished?" the man said confused. "Did something go wrong with the tracking device?"

"Could it have been destroyed?" Jedediah asked the man. He still thought that was the most likely outcome no matter what Daniel had said.

"If they found it, yeah. They might go over everything to make sure they didn't leave any kind of trail to follow."

Daniel shook his head as he went for the tracker. "Logan promised that he hid it too well. It's been almost two weeks. They would've found it long ago if they checked for something like that. Besides, I told Jedediah that it looked like…" He stayed silent as he focused on the screen.

"What is it Daniel?" Jedediah asked.

"The tracker. It's transmitting again. It looks like the Winchesters are moving south. They are near the Kansas and Oklahoma border. I knew it couldn't have been destroyed. It had to be interference of some kind."

Another one of the men approached them. He had been listening in. "This mystical bunker that they are in, do you think that it could've been blocking the signal somehow? Too much energy in the air, you know like a jamming field?"

The angel narrowed his eyes as he thought on it. "I suppose it's possible. Warding isn't my expertise but that does seem to be the most logical theory behind all of this."

"So…what should we do?" Daniel asked. "If the signal comped out in Kansas then maybe we should head there and wait until the Winchesters head back in that direction instead of following them to wherever they're going now."

"No," said Jedediah. "Even if it is the most logical explanation it is still a theory. For all we know, it could've been the hunt that they were on could've interfered somewhat and the Bunker could be where they are heading now. Besides, it would be wise to know their current situation to know the best way to infiltrate the Bunker when we do find it."

* * *

><p>In Gatesville, Texas a young woman with curly blondish hair was exiting from her car. She was heading out to a massage parlor with an eager skip in her step. She loved how humans had services for almost any kind of pleasure, pain or vanity you could think of in this day and age. She was now free from Heaven for the first time in centuries and she was blown away at the personal commerce that now existed here. Websites, clubs and service centers made to indulge their perversions, needs for physical activity, hunger, anger, boredom and anything else that they could think of. Today she was going to a service that was tagged as delivering a taste of heaven. She wondered if this message place was accurate in their advertising or not.<p>

As she stumbled on she felt something stir within her. Someone was calling out to her again. She felt four people needing her inspiration and morale in the last week. Humans were so weak nowadays. She wondered just who it was that needed her this time and found her answer at a curb where she saw three burly teenage boys as they were pushing a scrawny looking boy the same age around between them. There were a couple of their peers watching as they tormented the boy for their own amusement. The three bullies were laughing as they had their fun with the boy who was trying in vain to move away from them. He soon ended up being falling down on some gravel where one of them went next to him and put a foot between the boys' shoulders and held him down with a big smile on his face and everyone laughing at his victim's struggle to get back up.

The woman's eyes glowed white for a fraction for a second as she looked at the boy being bullied. "Your prayers have been answered." She then started to walk away.

The boy on the ground, he had pain in his eyes a moment ago, but in an instant a fierce look of determination quickly replaced it. His hands dug into the gravel and rocks and he spun quickly and threw the mix of dirt and pebbles in his left hand at his tormentor's face. The guy fell back in surprise as his hands quickly flew to his eyes and he stumbled back in pain. One of the boys went to his aid while the other went to go after the boy they were pushing around. The scrawny boy then brought out the rock he had in his right hand and struck his would be bully across the face. He fell to the ground but the teen didn't stop there. He took the rock he had and struck at the guy's head with it a few more times before he stood up fully and kicked at him with all his might. The others who had been watching were now staring in shock at how the guy on the ground was bleeding all around his face and was deathly still. The second guy was still frantically rubbing and holding his eyes that were ruined by the gravel the kid had thrown at them. The third bully was staring at their former target's face in surprise and shock as he stared back at him with a cold fury. The rock in the guy's hand coated with his buddy's blood. The bullied boy took a step forward at the bully and that was all it took for him to start running away. For all of them to start running away from the guy who just beat someone to death in front of them. The bullied teen looked on with that same hard and cold look but one that was satisfied and content.

The woman made it to the massage parlor and headed for the front desk.

"Four o'clock appointment for Barachiel," she said calmly as if she hadn't done anything a few moments ago.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 9<strong>

A/N: I hope you like the new additions that were introduced. Daniel Leonard, Joseph, Jedediah, Ezekiel and Barachiel. Out of all of them, I had fun thinking of Daniel and Joseph because of both who they are and of the connection that they share. The Battalion's symbol I have put on my profile as well as the images for all these new people. They will be one half of the driving force for this season. The other half will be Abaddon and Crowley's war for Hell. I hope you liked Cain's entrance. I thought that Cain would've been an interesting foe for the brothers to deal with and was a little disappointed with how he was portrayed. A demon that has feelings for other people, there is no such thing. Remember, Sam and Dean ran into a demon that was supposedly like that before and it turned out that she was an agent of Lillith and Lucifer. I have my own version of Cain that I hope you'll like.

There is more as Sam and Dean come up against Barachiel while Cain comes face to face with Abaddon. The relationship they have will be different from what we saw.


	10. Heaven's Most Wanted part 2

Chapter 10: Heaven's Most Wanted part two

The shower turned off as Cain stepped out and took a towel to dry his hair. He went to the bed where he had laid out the clothes he had picked out from the farmer's wardrobe. He chose a pair of blue jeans, a white undershirt, a blue and white flannel button shirt and found a leather jacket to wear over it. He dressed and went to the mirror where he adjusted his hair and trimmed his beard wherever it was uneven. When it was all said and done he had to admit that he was far better off than he had been before.

"Now what's missing," he said to himself. He squinted his eyes as a sharp burn shot out from his arm. He rolled back his right sleeve to see that his mark was glowing red. "Right…of course."

On the bed next to the pile of his old smelly and dirt coated clothes was his holster for the First Blade that he had made what seemed forever ago. He wrapped it around his middle and then fastened it before putting his jacket over it to semi block it from view.

"That's better."

Cain stepped out of the house and walked off. As he was putting the farm behind him, he could hear the echoes of screams coming back from there. He guessed that the farmer's body and the cows had finally been discovered in the barn where he left them.

* * *

><p>Dean and Sam were dressed in their suits as they walked the hallways of a police station with a police officer as they looked through the glass wall into the interrogation room holding the young teen boy who had spontaneously assaulted and beat one to near death with a rock.<p>

"Andrew Juergens," the officer said as he showed them the teen.

Dean looked hard at the kid. He looked even scrawnier than Sam did when he was his age. "That kid beat those two others?"

"Yeah," the officer said a little amused. "I was just as surprised. I checked him after he was brought in. He never so much as got told off for flicking someone behind the ear. He's not the type to beat on others. More like the type that gets beaten on."

"And those two that were beat?" asked Sam. "What kind of kids are they?"

"Those are the types who beat others. A handful of after school detentions for them and their third buddy. And the parents of the ones that got hospitalized are on us to have a rock solid case against Andrew. We found three people who had been around there who said they saw the three of them tease Andrew and start pushing him around. Their parents aren't hearing it. You know how these type of parents about their shitty little delinquents. Won't hear a word against them."

"Well what I'm hearing is an extreme case of the scrawny nerd that stands up to their bullies," said Dean.

The officer rose his eyebrows at him. "He didn't stand up to them, he nearly destroyed them. One of them might be blind in one eye permanently and the other is in a coma. The boys' parents all want him to hang for what happened," the officer said looking off at the boy.

"Has he said anything?" asked Sam.

The officer shook his head. "He's only said that he didn't do anything wrong. You know, the usual thing that kids say when they get busted."

Dean nodded. "We'd like to speak with him now."

The two of them walked in but Andrew hardly reacted. He just looked on ahead with that same blank look on his face.

Sam sat in front of Andrew first. "Andrew Juergens. I'm Robert Squier and that's Jonathan Alman." He pointed to Dean who went to sit beside him. "We're from the public defender's office."

Dean watched as the kid just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He deflated a bit. "Look kid, I'm sure that you've been getting a lot of talk about how much trouble you're in but we're only here to try and help you out. We want to know what happened out there to make you attack those guys. Two guys who are even bigger than you."

Andrew still didn't say anything. He just stared at his closed palms in front of him. Dean couldn't help but feel somewhat sympathetic to this kid. He remembered a time when sat that way with someone breathing down his neck in a school office a lifetime ago.

"Look Andrew, I get where you're coming from," he said softly.

"Oh you do?" Andrew finally spoke sarcastically. "I highly doubt that."

Dean continued like Andrew didn't say anything. "You think that you're a freak. You see how easy it is for some people to be with others and you wonder why you find that you could be on your own just fine. Then after a while, you just accept it but whether you like it or not there are still times where you wish you could fit in and you just try it but when you do it didn't work out like you wanted. The people you wanted to try and fit in with, they gave you grief over it instead."

It was clear that Dean's words had some effect on him. Andrew wasn't staring at his hands in front of him anymore. He was looking at the two of them now, more specifically Dean. "What makes you say all that?"

Dean shrugged. "You know what they say: Takes one to know one. I was just like that myself when I was in high school."

Sam looked over at Dean in confusion. He couldn't ever recall Dean ever being ostracized back in school. Whenever they had to move to a new place and new schools he had always seen Dean quickly have dates and go to parties.

But Andrew just sucked on his teeth. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Sam decided to try. "Andrew, we're only trying to make sense on what happened out there for you."

"Well, you're wasting your time. I didn't do anything wrong," he insisted calmly.

"Yeah, well, there are a couple of people out there that say otherwise," said Dean. "You can't blame them for that as you did blind one kid and beat another into a coma."

"Those guys have no right to complain. They brought this on themselves. It doesn't matter. I know what happened and they all could tell whatever story they all want for the cops but it doesn't matter. I know the truth of what really happened so they could have their parents do whatever they want, it won't matter."

Sam leaned forward. "Why's that?"

"Because my prayers were answered out there." Sam and Dean became alert after that but Andrew didn't seem to really notice. "Those guys were cowards. They think they're so special and I wasn't but they still had to go three against one on me. I prayed hard and I felt god giving me what I needed out there and that was the power to punish those guys for pushing me around when I did nothing to deserve it. He's got my back on this so I don't need you guys. They could do whatever they want, I'm not scared. They are the ones that should be if they try to get me back for them being punished."

Dean and Sam shared a look that spoke volumes. It looked like something was definitely at work here. Andrew didn't seem to want to talk anymore so they showed themselves out.

"Dean, did you catch the look in his eyes when he said that his prayers are answered?" Sam asked as they made their way to the car.

Andrew had stared unblinkingly at them and his eyes were focused. It was a lot like when all those people were killing sinners in God's name because of that spirit of Father Gregory messing in their heads. "Yeah. He was treading stardust alright."

"You thinking spirit?"

"Maybe." He pulled out the paper that had the location of where Andrew's attack on the bullies happened. "Why don't you try talking to the other attackers and see if their prayers were answered too? I'll head over to where this all happened and see if there is anything there."

"Sure," Sam mumbled. Sam wanted to ask him about what he said back there to Andrew.

Dean didn't give him time to ask about that though. "Alright. I'll case the place and then I'll come back and pick you up."

He watched as Dean got into the Impala and drove off.

* * *

><p>Across the street was Daniel Leonard leaning against a telephone pole with his phone against the side of his face as he observed the Impala pull out from in front of the police station.<p>

"So it looks like they came here to Gatesville to work on a case after all. Dean just drove off and Sam is heading off for the correctional facility down the block. They're fully in costume for skulking around the police station and lockup. It doesn't seem like the Bunker is here."

"So we tail them from here when they're ready to head out that Bunker?"

"I don't know Phil. I guess that's a good a plan as any."

Suddenly there was the sound the phone moving quickly and roughly. Daniel heard Phil grunt 'Hey' before a new voice came from the other end.

"Never mind the Bunker." Jedediah said with a little bit of a hard tone. "Get over here now."

Daniel just narrowed his eyes as he looked down the block where he and the others were sitting by a coffee shop window.

"Practically took my arm along with my phone," he complained.

Daniel didn't pay it any mind as he hung up the phone.

"Never mind?" He looked over and saw Sam disappearing into the correction building out of the corner of his eye before he went into the shop. Daniel went to their table and saw Phil was rubbing his arm. He made his way to them and gave the angel a hard look. "What did you mean by 'Never mind the Bunker'? Isn't that why we're even here?"

Jedediah wasn't looking at Daniel. He was looking outside as if he was searching the skies for something. "The Bunker will have to wait."

Daniel deflated when he saw the look in his eyes. "Jedediah, what is it?"

"There is something in the air. An energy I haven't felt since…" He took his eyes from outside the window and looked back at Daniel. "What are the Winchesters doing here? What case are they working on?"

"I think I might know." One of the Battalion's members Dennis said as he flipped around his laptop to show them some local articles he downloaded.

"A bunch of murders?" asked Daniel. "And a violent incident over a day ago? I don't get it."

Jedediah kept reading the articles and he blew a hard puff of air from his nose when he was finished. "I do. It seems like we have something more crucial than the Bunker to deal with here in this town."

"What? What is it Jedediah?" asked Phil.

* * *

><p>Dean was moving about the scene of the beating with his EMF in hand but it wasn't giving off any signal. He then started to go around to the businesses around to see if anyone in any of them had noticed something. Some said that they didn't see or hear anything odd until the police and their sirens showed up. He came up to a massage parlor where he sidestepped a woman leaving but she didn't exit the door without giving him a second appreciative look. He saw posters scattered around of offers of special spa treatments and massage offers. He felt that after this case he wouldn't mind a little hands on action from here, provided that the hands were of a hot nimble chick. He went to the reception desk where the lady sitting there looked up from her magazine.<p>

"May I help you?" she asked.

Dean took out his federal badge to show her. "I'm here to ask if you knew about that incident that happened the other day."

She looked from the badge to him. "Oh, you mean the one with those kids?"

"Did you see it?"

"No, not exactly. I didn't know anything was wrong until I heard the sirens."

'_Yeah, another dead end_," thought Dean

"And until that weird woman told us about the fight, I thought an accident had happened close by."

"Whoa, wait," Dean said stopping her right there. "Weird woman?"

"Yeah," the receptionist said as if she remembered something very important. "It was pretty strange. She had come in not five minutes before and was settled in a chair getting a pedicure and shiatsu from one of us when we heard the sirens. It was Wednesday and it was slow and she was our only customer then so me and the two others on duty were talking together from across the room when it happened. We started wondering aloud what was going on and she just blurted out that they were probably responding to the fight that kids were having before she walked in. She started going on that the sinners who were tormenting the boy were answering for their crimes or something by the one they were oppressing. It was a little unusual but then I went out to check what was happening and saw she was right that two boys were beaten by another kid."

His EMF was still in his pocket but it wasn't buzzing or reacting at all which means that this woman wasn't a ghost or spirit but he still smelled something fishy about all of this. What kind of woman getting a spa treatment goes on about sinners and punishments like that? With everything going on, he's calling that a solid lead. "I'd like to talk to this woman."

"Why? She's not in trouble is she? She didn't attack those boys, she was in here with us as it happened."

"No, but I would still like to know if what she says will collaborate with those kids' stories. You know kids, one says one thing and another says another thing. I'm hoping that if she did really see something of their fight then it will tell me whose lying or not."

"Oh," she said as she went to her book. She flipped a few pages as she came to the day of the incident. "She made an appointment by phone and she paid for the service in cash so there's no credit card. All I have is the name she put the appointment under. Barachiel."

"Barachiel?" Dean narrowed his eyes. That sounded like an Old Testament sort of name. That supported his hunch. He brought his hand to his mouth and breathed out in frustration before his eyes looked up to see a camera. "Did you happen to catch her on camera," he said pointing to the camera.

He soon left with a photo of an attractive blonde woman. It wasn't much to go on but it would have to make due. He just hoped Sam had more to help them out.

* * *

><p>Sam had found some things out from the other people that had just snapped. It turns out that they felt that their prayers were answered too. Dean picked Sam up and they were exchanging notes in the car.<p>

"So, a guy who worked in maintenance at a mall kept getting nagged and grilled by his boss for things out of his control and the next thing he knew was that he was standing over his boss's body with a bloody wrench in his hand. Then there was a woman that was being catcalled by some jerks outside after her show in a strip joint and they chased her to her car and they kept harassing her through the windows and she prayed for them to stop bothering her and the next thing she knew was that her car was decorated with blood spatter from the guys that she had run over, repeatedly."

"Yikes," Dean said.

"And was just the two people they had. Those other murders, they haven't caught the ones who did those but the victims were a collection agency clerk and a guy who was taking mandatory anger management sessions."

"So we have bullies, jerks, and douchebags hounding on people that are getting ganked."

"They're getting _punished_," Sam corrected. "It looks like the people that are getting abused or tormented by them are praying for divine intervention and are 'getting their prayers answered'. Just like Andrew those other two said those same words with that same look in their eyes."

"And we have a suspect," he said as he pulled out the picture he got from the massage parlor.

"No, we have a photo of a girl that you got from a day spa."

"And a name, Barachiel. Sounds a little angely to you?"

"Maybe but what if it is an angel. They don't have wings anymore. We won't be able to call for them like we're used to."

Dean then pulled out his cell. "But I'll call the one who knows something else we could try." He scrolled down to Cas' name and put the phone on speaker.

"_Hello?"_ Cas' voice said filling the car. "_Dean?"_

"Hey Cas, we need your help."

"_What's going on?"_

"We're working on a case and we think one of your old buddies is in the thick of it. Does the name Barachiel mean anything to you?"

"_Barachiel?"_ Castiel's tone suggested he did but he didn't sound happy about it. "_Yes I do know Barachiel. She was a musing angel._"

"A muse?" said Sam. "You mean like inspiration?"

"_Yes. The muses are a low level of angel much like cupids. They help provide drive and motivation to achieve feats that are within their power to do but lack the inspiration to do so. Whether it's in the pursuit of art, crafts, politics and justice."_

"Yeah, well, this one is inspiring people to go nuts and paint the town red with small time mooks," barked Dean.

"_Yes I know. Barachiel was a muse of justice that helped inspire people to stand up against oppression and fear. However she started to have the people she touched act in ways that went beyond the scope of what the oppressors did. Not only that, but she even gave them new strength which was forbidden. She eventually was called for imprisonment in the 12__th__ century when villagers being oppressed were inspired to resist the lord that was oppressing them and then set fire to his whole castle and killed everyone inside. Most were simple innocent servants that were just as afraid of the lord as they were. Barachiel was sentenced to be locked away in Heaven's dungeons for eternity."_

"Well, who let her out?" Dean asked. He had to admit that he often never saw the angels really have good sense but he agreed that a bitch like that deserved to be behind bars.

"_I think it might have been_ me." he said with the shame evident in his voice._ "When Metatron used my grace and cast his spell to evict all the angels from heaven, it also evicted those that were imprisoned."_

Sam looked over and caught Dean's eye. "You mean there are more like Barachiel out there now?"

"_Actually, Barachiel is one of the lower offenders_," he said bluntly.

"Awesome," Dean growled.

Now there was even more for them to deal with out there besides Abaddon, Cain, and newly fallen angels that might be after Cas. Now they had angel convict escapees too.

"_You must stop her or she will keep inspiring intense and unnecessary retribution. Unfortunately, without the energy wavelength of an angel's wings we can not be summoned through the usual channels."_

"We already guessed that but we don't know where to find her Cas." Sam explained.

"But," Dean said. "We have the bitch's name. When you were looking for Balthazar, didn't you cast a spell to find him? Will that still work?"

"_Yes, it should. That spell has nothing to do with our wings and should still work."_

Dean was happy that there was some good news for once. "Okay then, tell us how to work it," he said as Sam went to write the instructions down.

* * *

><p>A woman was closing up the pharmacy for the night and heading for her car in the lot when she heard something behind her and turned back in shock before she deflated.<p>

"Oh, you scared me," she said lightly grabbing her chest. "Half to death."

Abaddon gave her a charming smile. "Only half?"

The girl laughed though she still looked a little confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Abaddon just smiled deeper at her before she went and grabbed the woman by the throat. She lifted her up high and her feet were dangling just below her kneecaps. Abaddon squeezed harder and harder as she stared down the scared woman's eyes. It wasn't long before there was a snap and she let go of the now fresh corpse.

A voice cried out to her before she could take in her kill. "Slow and pleasurable like you always do it."

Abaddon was ready to face whoever it was that called to her but she actually relaxed and smiled. "Cain, you're out again."

"For good this time," he said stepping over to her.

"Really? How? I thought that spell was foolproof?"

Cain shrugged. "I guess not. I'm not sure exactly what happened but I'm not complaining."

She smiled at him. "Neither am I."

Cain looked down at the dead girl. "Temper kill?"

"No, this one was a business kill. A client of Crowley's who went on to sell her soul to cure her daughter's uterus infection."

He then walked off with Abaddon followed in step after him. "It was her time?" he asked her.

Abaddon shook her head. "Nah, she still had six years but I'm taking Hell in a whole new direction."

"So I've heard."

"Deals," she spat. "Such a foolish and wasteful idea. I could use your help. Together, we could take Hell with ease. Every Queen does need a good worthy King beside her. If there was anyone worthy of that position then it would be you Cain."

"Flattery…nice. However, I'm not one to be on a throne. I know my place and that's on the front lines."

"Well then, if not my king then perhaps you would consider being my champion?" she suggested.

Cain just chuckled at her. "What about your place Abaddon? You're an elite soldier but a soldier. What do you know about ruling?"

Abaddon froze and looked at Cain with shock and anger. "You think that wheeling and dealing imbecile Crowley is worthy of leading Hell?"

"I didn't say that. But while on the subject, he is the one with the most experience with holding power in Hell."

"So you would support Crowley."

Cain chuckled at her. "Abaddon, you are not helping your case with your refusal to listen. I never said any of that. I just want to know who is best for the job. If you truly are the best for the job then prove it by matching your way of things against his and see who comes out on top."

"Hell is already prospering under me."

"Because there is nothing to challenge it," said Cain. "A King fights, a king conquers, right? Can't do that if there is nobody to fight against and conquer over, is there? You want my support? Prove to me that you're worthy of it. Find Crowley and fight him, conquer him. Prove to me, to all of Hell that you are fit to be Queen and you'll have your kingdom and your champion."

Cain then vanished without another word.

"Oh, I will," she vowed to herself. "I will."

* * *

><p>It was getting late but Sam and Dean were in the final steps of preparing homemade firebombs with what little holy oil they were able to get their hands on.<p>

"If I find the guy who took our angel blades I'll ring his neck," he said as he carefully poured the oil into the glass bulb. "This is a pain in the ass."

"Well, it's all we got." Sam tightened the seal on his bomb. "Holy oil is getting harder to get too."

Dean finished his and put it in a pile with the others. "I know. Only enough for five, barely. We can't waste a single one bringing her down."

Dean got up and started to prepare the bowl with the ingredients for the spell Castiel gave them. Sam was packing up the bombs in a small bag when he remembered something from earlier.

"Hey Dean, was all that true?"

"What?" he asked indifferently.

"With Andrew. What you said about being alone and wanting to fit in back in high school but you never could and you got grief over it?"

Dean paused in the process of preparing the spell and just stared on ahead for a few seconds before he nodded. "Yeah…it was. Why?" he asked as he went back to preparing the spell.

"I…I just never thought you ever felt that way. I was always a little jealous of how you always seemed to-" He struggled to find the right words before Dean turned to look right at him. "fit right in," he finished.

"I never really did." Dean smiled a little sadly right there. "The other guys my age always thought I was too strange to hang around with. Most conversations I tried to have or things I decided to try to join in on always ended with me saying or doing the wrong thing. After they would treat me like I was a leper. And I mean, yeah, girls liked me as soon as they saw me," he said a little smugly. "But after one date most of them would like the packaging but not the actual thing. Any that tried…well they felt I was too crazy or intense for them to be with. I guess I always tried to make sure that you and Dad never saw how much it really bothered me that you never guessed anything was wrong."

"I never knew about any of this. I always saw you as my cool older brother that never had problems with moving around because it wouldn't matter. You would always be able to find a place anywhere we went. I always wanted to be like you whenever I had to go to a new school."

"Really? This is awkward because the truth is…I was actually jealous of you Sammy."

That threw Sam off. "You were jealous of me?"

"I was always wishing that my time and school could've been more like yours was. Yeah. I know I always called you a geek and a nerd. Which you still are," he quipped. "But even with that you were able to fit in. Geeks and nerds actually fit in with high school. You never wanted to leave because you found a place wherever we went and wanted to keep it. I never had any place where I wanted to really stay as much as you did."

Sam was speechless. This all changed many of the thoughts that he had sometimes thought back on with his childhood. All that time that he had idolized and been jealous of Dean during their time at school he had been idolizing and jealous of him. He now started to feel bad for all the trouble he gave Dean whenever they had to move and leave to start over somewhere else.

Dean seemed to know his brother's feelings. "Forget about it," he waved off. "I put it behind me a long time ago." He then made a cut along his arm to pour some of his blood in the bowl to complete it. "Spell's ready."

* * *

><p>Barachiel treated herself to shots at a local bar. She was loving the change of alcohol in this day and age. There was a much wider range of them for her to try and she was finding shots to be her favorite. Especially when she took one and dropped it into another beverage and drank it down as fast as she could which she picked up from a few others that were doing the same a small distance away from her. She wasn't feeling the effects of drunkenness that humans generally felt by the amount of drinks she had but she was feeling warm inside. She didn't feel the effect of the cold air around her but she felt more comfortable regardless as she walked out the bar into the cold night. Barachiel began walking to her car when she felt a blossoming prayer for her help. She carefully trekked through the alleys behind the bar to see three men standing over a young man as they stepped over him, laughing at his distress. The prayers for help were coming from the one on the ground as he prayed for the three of them to just stop.<p>

"Your prayers are answered," she mumbled as she started to extend her hand out to the young man.

Behind Barachiel, a voice roared angrily out at her. "I don't think so!"

Barachiel turned around and nearly jumped back in fright. "Jedediah!" she cried.

Jedediah approached her as she backed away much like a lion closing in on a gazelle. Barachiel saw the angel blade in his hand and she drew her's up in defense. Jedediah kept his at his side not affected by the raised weapon in the least. Just then flames surrounded Barachiel as they sparked behind her. She was trapped in a ring of holy fire. She wondered how that happened until she turned around and saw that the men she had seen earlier were all leering at her. The one that they were stepping over was up as well with a matchbook in his hand.

"Gotcha," he said as he pocketed the matches and pulled out his own angel sword.

"A trap," she said catching on to what was happening.

"Yeah," said one of the men. "Jedediah caught your scent and with all the deaths and the situation he knew what you were doing and what we had to do to catch you."

The captive rogue looked at these four humans and saw that they were all wearing leather cuffs below their right wrists that had the same enochian symbol on them. One that she easily recognized, one that every angel would know on the spot.

Barachiel turned around to glare at Jedediah. "Really? One of the mighty Powers, allying and working with humans. Pathetic"

"Pathetic?" said the human with the angel blade. He pointed the blade up at her when she turned to look at him. "You're the one who's pathetic. You were imprisoned for driving innocent people and those with a want to do real good to be no better than the sinners they tried to overcome. You were given an unexpected chance to start over. To be better and you go right ahead and do the same crime all over again. You threw your new freedom away and that's what truly pathetic here."

Barachiel looked at him with a raised eyebrow before she started to laugh to herself. "My, my…what the passionate young man you are. What's your name?"

"Daniel Leonard."

"Well Mr. Leonard, you have me all wrong. I am hardly in the wrong here. You humans all desire to act on your feelings. You only take it as far as you feel you want to. I merely grant them the ability and freedom to do so."

"I won't deny that we humans can take things too far sometimes when we have something to strive towards. But we also can show restraint when we need to avoid making our own problems. You just focus and appeal solely to the side that takes things too far when we seek to change things."

"I don't think that those people are complaining about me answering their prayers."

"Now," Daniel roared. "Try waiting a few days for the effect of your grace wearing off on them. You think that those people wanted to become killers or that kid wanted to blind someone and beat another to near death into a coma? And Jedediah told us about those people you did this too in the past. They prayed for comfort and strength in their moments of turmoil, not for you to take their lives off course and become what they were praying against. They are going to be in regret for the rest of their lives because of you perverting their prayers for your own vanity."

Barachiel had a sense of dejavu. An archangel said roughly the same thing to her when she was imprisoned all those centuries ago. Daniel's eyes were sad but she could see that he was angry and disappointed as well. "My, aren't you a saint."

"Yes, he is a prime candidate for sainthood." Jedediah said as he stood next to Daniel. "And his proclamation was the perfect lead in on your sentence. Barachiel, by my authority as one of the Powers of Heaven, for repeating your original crimes and you are sentenced to death."

The three other men with them threw salt in front of the fire to make a path for Jedediah to move in.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean carefully approached the area marked on their map showing Barachiel's location. They found out that it was a bar. Dean showed Barachiel's picture and the bartender said that they had missed her by about 10 minutes. It wasn't too long and that meant that they could still find her. They move through the alleys behind the bar to try and find the rogue angel before she could find someone else being oppressed and praying for help. They moved through the empty alleys covertly before they heard a scream that had them break off into a run. They turned a corner and froze in their tracks. The smell of burning holy oil lingered in the air and smoke were in that alley. They saw the angel they were hunting on the ground surrounded by scorch marks that were in a perfect circle around the body. Standing next to the body were five people and two of them had angel blades in their hands. One of them had blood on their and he was standing over the dead angel with a hard look in his eyes while the other had a sad look in his. But all five of them went alert when they walked in.<p>

The one that looked sad a moment ago suddenly went hard as steel as he looked at the two brothers. "Well, Sam and Dean Winchester…we finally meet."

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 10<strong>

A/N: I hope you liked the scene between Cain and Abaddon. While my version of Cain may not have hateful feelings for Abaddon he still is not going to make things easier for her. The Battalion and the Winchesters have now come face to face. I have been waiting for this and am excited.

The next chapter is called Power to the Angels. Dean and Sam face off with the Battalion and they are surprised at the apparent involvement of people with angels, working together. Castiel also sheds a certain light on them that lets them know to take them seriously.


	11. Power to the Angels

Chapter 11: Power to the Angels

Three angels were chasing after one other angel, running through a suburban neighborhood under construction and he had a few bloody gashes on his face as he rushed to get away from his pursuers. He ran through a half built house and threw himself out the front door and ran into the space between two houses across the street. He tried to jump the fence but he slipped and fell back to the ground. He stood back up just in time to have three different blades pointed at him.

"Just leave me alone!" the angel cried out. "You already killed my three other friends. We weren't a threat to any of you!"

"Sorry," said one of his pursuers. "But any who refuses to join Bartholomew are a threat."

"If you wish for us to spare you then swear allegiance to him and his faction."

The angel refused. "No. Bartholomew is a butchering madman! I will never follow someone like him."

"Very well. We'll inform him of that," another one of them said with a sneer on his face.

"Oh I don't think so," said a voice.

The four angels spun around as an angel in a tough looking vessel wearing a dark jean jacket stepped forward into the space. All four of their jaws dropped in shock.

"You? But you're supposed to be dead!" shouted one of the three hit angels. "Castiel killed you all!"

"Well the reports of our demise were greatly exaggerated." The new one then brought out his own angel blade. "Now lay down your weapons and surrender by the authority of the Powers." The three of them didn't move to lower their weapons. Instead they raised them even higher. "I see."

The area lit up with light from the dying grace of the angels as they were slain. When it was over the bodies of all three of those angels were lying on the ground before him. Their slayer went to collect each of their fallen weapons. Didn't need them to be lying around for some demon to claim as a good many had already these last few years. The angel they had been chasing was sitting down against the fence looking up as the new angel walked forward. They just stared at one another as the one standing twirled the blade in his hand.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean were prepared for anything tonight or at least they had thought they were. Seeing the rogue angel they were hunting already dead with a small group of people surrounding her body had indeed thrown them for a loop. They guessed that they were angels seeing as two of them were wielding angel blades. The one holding the blade without the blood had called out to them snapping them back to the situation at hand.<p>

"Well Sam and Dean Winchester…we meet at last."

The blade in the guy's hand shimmered in the dim light of the alley and again Dean wished he had one of their blades. "You know our names but I'm afraid we don't know your name pal."

The guy pulled his lips back into a small smile. "You are as witty as they say you are. That wasn't a compliment," he said when Dean smirked. "As for my name…its Daniel," he answered simply.

Sam stepped forward. "Okay then, Daniel, did you guys do this?" he asked pointing to Barachiel's body.

"Execute the rogue criminal Barachiel?" said the stern looking angel holding the bloodstained blade. "I did, as is my duty to Heaven." He glared at the brothers.

"Your duty?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

The angel full on glared at Sam. "That is none of your affair. You two have done all in your power to make mine and my brothers' duties difficult. You two and that heretic Castiel have destroyed order and created chaos not only for heaven but for the Earth as well and I for one will not stand for it!"

"And what are you? The Angel Police," Dean snorted without any humor in it.

"In a sense," he said without missing a beat. "Now as an officer, I say that you two leave and go about your business elsewhere," he ordered sternly as he pointed his finger out sternly like a true authority figure.

Sam and Dean didn't even begin to budge from where they were.

"Listen pal," Dean stomped forward.

He barely made it two steps before the three others pulled out guns and pointed them straight at them. Dean and Sam both held their hands up and took a step back to quell down the new tension.

"Whoa, hold it!" Dean started.

"I believe Jedediah said for you to leave," growled one of them as he aimed higher up towards the spot between Dean's eyes.

"Since when have you guys used guns?" Dean asked.

"It looks like right now," said Daniel. "And believe me, they are quite good with them as well."

"Calm down," said Sam. The last thing he wanted was for these guys to be tempted further into putting a bullet into their brains. Sam looked at these guys closely and saw that the guns they were holding weren't pawn shop sells. They were standard issue law enforcement handguns. "We don't want any trouble here."

Daniel folded his arms but made sure his blade was pointing up at his right shoulder. "I thought trouble was the Winchesters' middle name? I mean, isn't that why you two are even here, to find trouble." He spoke at them like he was scolding delinquents. "Well, now that you have found yourself some you want to avoid it? I wonder why the sudden shift all of a sudden?"

Sam narrowed his eyes as he looked at Daniel. There was something about him. Sam wasn't sure what it was but he wasn't like any angel he had ever come across. It almost was like the sight of Sam and Dean had personally offended him.

Dean glared at him but noticed that his right arm had a leather cuff that had an enochian symbol stitched on it. He wondered what that was about a split second before he started to further step back more steps to be in line with Sam. "Okay, we're leaving," he said as he backed off.

"We are?" Sam whispered from the side of his lips. It wasn't like his brother to just give up even with guns directly pointed at him. "Really?"

Dean then nodded at his brother but his eyes were to the pouch full of homemade holy fire bombs at his side. When they were making them they made sure to add in some chemicals to the oil so that it would ignite on impact after the glass broke. When they backed off far enough Sam reached for one and quickly threw it at the ground in front of their unknown opponents. The fire shot up and blocked the view they all had of one another. Shots went off and Sam and Dean took cover. Dean chanced a look and saw that the five of them were making a break for it down the other end of the alley. Sam and Dean pulled out their own guns and pursued them but had to duck away again when one of those guys stood outside a van that was getting started and the others were hopping in. He was firing at the two of them in order to buy the others the time to get in. When everyone jumped in, he let out one last shot before he climbed into the van too and it sped off as he slammed the sliding door shut. Dean and Sam came out of their safe spot to watch as it head off in frustration and confusion.

* * *

><p>Jedediah, are you alright?" Daniel cried out as they sped out onto the main roads.<p>

When that molotov of holy fire was thrown at them Jedediah had been in front of all of them and Daniel swore that he had seen him get caught by a few of its embers. He knew that holy fire was lethal for angels. If anything happened then he would've blamed himself. He was the one who taunted the two of them in the alley. He couldn't help it. Those two just got on him the wrong way for the longest and seeing them with his own eyes really set him off, especially Dean Winchester.

"I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth. He was holding his left arm tightly. "I got slightly singed but my left arm took most of the damage. I should heal myself completely within three days."

"But what are we going to do now/" asked Dennis. He had been the one to hold the Winchesters off. "I'm sure that they were able to see the plates of the van as we drove off. What if they run them?"

This only made Phil laugh from his place in the driver's seat. "Let em'," he snorted out. "It won't do them any good."

"Why?" asked Daniel.

"Because I borrowed this van from the federal lot," said Dennis. "I made sure to put out this van's plates on the cyber alert list for anyone trying to trace it for security before we left. They won't be able to pull their FBI dress up act with my co-workers. Though, they might be meeting up with them soon enough if they are running the plates of a vehicle registered to the agency."

"What if they're caught?" Daniel asked. "Don't forget, we still need them to find that bunker."

"Have faith Daniel," said Jedediah trying to settle him down. "You could always count on those Winchesters to be stubborn enough to not be held in a place for too long. Even if Dennis' fellow US Marshals catch up to them, they won't be able to hold them though I doubt they will be foolish enough to stay for them to take them in. They're fools but not that stupid."

Phil looked over at Daniel. "But when they do flee, it will be to their Bunker and we can follow them there."

The three of them softly cheered at that. Jedediah rested his head against the head rest of his seat with his eyes closed tightly in pain but he did smile. Daniel had to smirk alongside them as well. He told Joseph that they wouldn't regret where the angels looked to recruit for the Battalion and it was good that these guys were proving him right after all.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean were rushing through their motel room quickly packing up everything they had into their duffels. When they did they ran to the car.<p>

"You left the laptop behind, right?" Dean asked as he threw his bag in the trunk.

"Yeah," said Sam throwing his own in. "Wiped it down of my prints too."

"Good, let's get out of here," he said as he slammed the trunk shut.

They got in the car as Dean sped it out of the motel parking lot and drove off.

"You really think we should just leave like this?" Sam asked after about five minutes of silence.

"Sam, you ran the plates yourself right? That van was a federal government vehicle and you tripped their security when you tried to hack who it was registered out to. Now they are tracking the computer for illegal federal access. They're going to be all over that motel inside the hour."

"I know that Dean. And I didn't mean leaving the motel, I meant leaving town. Don't you think we should stay and at least try to find out who those guys are?"

"What's it matter if we find out who a bunch of angel meatsuits are?"

"Dean, when was the last time that you saw an angel pull out a gun? Those guys were human."

"You think so? Sam, last time I checked angels weren't the type to have human partners in the field."

"What are you talking about; Cas has worked with us for years Dean."

"Yeah, well, he's obvious exception."

"That we know of. And besides, who knows what the angels have been up to since they fell. They could be doing things differently now. And if the van that they had is tied to the federal government they could be playing on a whole new field."

"That's insane right there. Angels getting in good with the government. That's all we need."

"Yeah, and not some desk guys either but actual field officers too."

"What do you mean Sam?"

"Didn't you see those guns those guys pulled out on us? Those were government and police issued handguns."

Dean raised his eyebrows at his brother. "You could tell?"

Sam raised his at Dean. "You couldn't?" With all their previous run-ins with the government you'd think he would know the sight of their handguns by now.

"Yeah, whatever, but we should do all that in the safety of the Bunker. Remember, it's shielded so we could make all the calls and connections from there that we need without being tracked back to there. Also Cas might be able to tell us who those two angels are: that Jedediah and Daniel."

Sam surrendered. It was clear that Dean's mind was made up on that. Besides, he did have a good point about the safety of the Bunker. "Okay, fine."

* * *

><p>Daniel took out the tracker and kept watch of the tracer in the Impala. "They're on the move. I guess that they did try to run the plates and are speeding for the state line."<p>

"We should go after them," said Riley.

"Unfortunately, that will have to wait," said Dennis. "If the alert was triggered then there will be a lot of questions for me to answer. Also, I will have to work in filtering the information that the agency finds in the investigation of the hack that those two pulled."

"Then what do we do?" asked Daniel.

"It's no problem," said Phil. "We could just purchase a rental and continue to tail them with that."

Riley looked at his watch. "It's already a quarter to one in the morning. We'll have to rent one in the morning when they open back up. I guess we'll have to find a room for the night and we'll continue to follow them in the morning. Maybe it will be better this way. Those two will be on alert for the van so changing vehicles might not be such a bad idea."

"He's right," said Phil though he sounded a little hesitant. "But…I'll also have to head back to Memphis also. I only had a week's leave. I'll have to return in three days and if we have to stay here then I won't have enough time to keep up the pursuit. I'm sorry."

Jedediah just bowed his head. "It's alright. Phil, Dennis, you two have already been a great service in this mission. Thanks to you we were able to end a malicious rogue angel and even drive the Winchesters to regroup back to Men of Letters Bunker. Your service is greatly appreciated."

"All in the service of God and his true angels," Phil and Dennis chanted.

"Don't worry," Daniel told them. "Riley, Jedediah and I will take it from here."

* * *

><p>Dean was beyond tired by the time they arrived back at the bunker. They hadn't stopped until they had arrived. It was almost noon by the time they had parked the Impala in the Bunker's garage. They made it to the library to see Castiel looking through a book while Kevin was staring blurry eyed at one of the tablets.<p>

Castiel put down his book when they walked in. "Dean, Sam, are you alright? Did you find Barachiel?"

"No," Dean said as he threw his duffel onto the table before he stomped off to the fridge for a beer. "Someone else did. They found and killed Barachiel themselves last night."

"Who?" he asked.

Sam went to sit down in one of the armchairs. "That's the thing. It looked like angels with some other humans." He took out a tablet that Charlie had sent to them a few weeks ago.

"Other humans?" asked Castiel. "Are you sure they were humans and not simply other angels?"

"Yeah," Dean said before taking a sip from his beer. "There were five of them but three of them pulled out guns on us while the other two pulled out angel blades. Unless angels have decided to trade in their blades for guns then we just might playing a whole new game with them."

Sam started to run the plates that they took from their getaway van. "We think they might have connections with the government. The van they used had a government plate on it and when we ran them we tripped federal security so we had to leave in a hurry."

Kevin looked up from his work to see Sam tapping away. "And are you doing that again, here?"

"It's okay," Sam reassured him. "The bunker should shield us from that now." He put in the commands for the search to go through and there weren't any problems like they were before. "It should find out who the van was registered to in a few minutes. You know, just the fact that people are with angels in the field is strange without all of this added to it."

Kevin stopped trying to keep working as he took more interest in what they were saying. "How is that strange? Angels working with people? I mean, isn't that just like you and Dean? You guys and Castiel have fought together before."

"Angels try very hard not to involve humans in their affairs," Castiel explained. "I remember the time I first met Dean and Sam. It was hard for us to work together because I tried to keep my distance at first by instinct."

"Yeah, you were such a dick back then," Dean mumbled. "But you're better now," he said when Castiel looked straight at him.

Castiel didn't seem too fazed by that. "With the Fall there is no telling what has really happened with the factions or of their states of mind." All Castiel really knew about the angels since the Fall was that they wanted him to answer for helping Metatron cause it and he couldn't blame any of them for that. "These angels with the humans, did they happen to give you their names?"

"Yeah, one of them said his name was Daniel. A little prick. You know him?" asked Dean.

Castiel narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I knew an angel named Daniel but you couldn't have met him last night."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because he's dead."

Sam and Dean shared a look between themselves.

"Cas, he looked quite alive to us," said Sam. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, he was killed years ago back when we were trying to stop Lillith from breaking the 66 seals. He died right in front of my eyes during one of the battles."

"Then who the heck did we meet in the alley?" Dean said looking as confused and angry as he sounded. "He even wore a weird enochian symbol on a leather cuff."

"I saw leather cuffs on the other three. I noticed them when they held their guns on us but I couldn't tell if they had a symbol on them though."

"What was it?" Castiel asked. "The symbol that you saw."

Dean reached for one of Kevin's papers and snatched a pen on the table as he drew the image he saw on that leather cuff he saw Daniel wearing over his wrist. When Dean was finished he pushed it towards Castiel.

"That's it. Do you know it?"

Castiel studied the image for a second before he nodded. "I do. There isn't an angel that doesn't know. That is the symbol for Michael."

"Awesome," Dean slurred out.

"Michael?" Kevin asked a little starstruck. "As in the Archangel? The Holy Prince of Heaven, that Michael?"

"That would be him," said Dean tiredly. "The holy royal prick."

Dean would not forget about the archangel any time soon. None of them would.

"Why would these guys wear Michael's symbol?" asked Sam.

Castiel shook his head. "I don't know but it is as I said. Daniel is dead. I watched him die. My garrison had to collect his body."

"Are you guys sure that this guy, that he was an angel?" Kevin asked. "You did say that there were humans there. Daniel is not exactly an unusual name to have these days. Maybe the Daniel you met was another human but just had an angel blade over a gun."

"Maybe." Sam did feel there was something about Daniel that was different. Different from other angels. Being human would definitely be it. But something was still telling him that even for a human there was something off about him.

"And the other one?" asked Castiel breaking the dragging silence. "Do you know for sure that he was an angel?"

"Now that guy," Dean said taking a seat right by Kevin. "He was an angel alright. Talked and acted like the worst of them. His name was Jeb, no, Jedediah."

Castiel went pale and his face lit with shock. "Jedediah? Are you sure?"

Dean straightened himself out in his chair. Cas looked like he was going to pass out on his feet. "Cas, what is it?"

"You know him?" asked Sam. "Don't you?"

"Yes." Castiel went to lean against a bookshelf. "Jedediah…He's one of the Powers."

Dean's face scrunched up in confusion. "The Powers? What powers?"

"The Powers. They are the highest choir of angelic warriors. The very elite of Heaven's forces. The only angels that were stronger or skilled than them were the Archangels themselves. Their loyalty was only to God and Michael themselves. They answered to no one else."

"That might explain the symbol then," Dean said as he looked down at it.

"Yes, but, it's also impossible."

"Again Cas? Why?"

"Because the Powers are supposed to be dead."

Dean rubbed his eyes. "They were killed during the whole seals thing too?"

"No." Castiel's face hardened. "I was the one who killed them."

Dean's eyes went up in surprise. "You?"

"The Powers had sided with Raphael during the War after the Apocalypse. They only publicly fought in one battle but it was enough to cause a great lack of faith. The Powers took that battle easily and laid waste to four whole garrisons in my army without taking a single loss. After I…" Castiel didn't want to say the words out loud but Dean and Sam knew he was referring to when he stole the souls of Purgatory to become God. "Well, I laid waste to Raphael's camp and all of his followers. The Powers would have been among them."

Sam wondered something. "Are you sure Cas? Did you actually find their bodies after…that whole thing?"

"No…but then again many angels I slew that day didn't leave a body behind."

"So, you're saying that you can't be sure," Sam pressed on.

Dean wasn't liking the sound of this. "Well if these…Powers are that strong and important then where the hell have they been all this time? Why are they only showing up now?"

Castiel just rubbed his own eyes. "I don't know. No one really has had much experience with dealing with the Powers outside the battlefield. Their names are known but not much else."

"What do you know?" asked Sam. "If these guys are active now then we'll have to know all we can about them."

"It's not much. All I really know about them I just shared. The only other thing I know is the name of their leader. The one who is the Powers commander is a powerful and strong angel by the name of Joseph."

* * *

><p>Joseph got a Skype call from his laptop and he opened it to find that it was Nazareth.<p>

"Joseph," he called as soon as his face was visible on the screen.

"Report Nazareth."

"The intelligence was right. It seems that Bartholomew is indeed targeting smaller factions and independent angels that don't swear allegiance to him."

"That bloodthirsty arrogant fool," Joseph growled. Bartholomew was one of angels that was trying to take advantage of the Fall to seize power and control for himself. Others were Malachai, Tyrus and a handful of others. They were all high level officers in Castiel's inner circle during his war with Raphael. Joseph would not stand for more pretenders to try and claim the throne that didn't belong to any of them. "He is not only a traitor and a butcher but he is now adding heretic to his repertoire as well. Any luck finding his home base?"

"None. Any associates of his that I run into rather fight then talk. Though most of them are shocked when they look at me. They think that we Powers are dead."

"Well it seems as if it is time to show the angels that the Powers are far from dead. And that we are still fulfilling our duties to Heaven given to us by our true leader. Jedediah and Daniel just reported that they found and slew Barachiel."

Nazareth's glare flashed though the camera. "Barachiel? One of the rogues."

"Yes. One of them. It would seem that the Fall had not only expelled all the angels from Heaven but also freed the Rogues from the prison."

Now Nazareth looked a little hesitant and worried. "All of them? Even-"

"I don't know yet," he said quickly. "We were lucky to all be on Earth when Metatron and Castiel cast that spell for the Fall. The majority were still in Heaven and there were a few that had perished as they fell. Let us pray that the other rogues were among those that were killed." There was one rogue in particular that he hoped was not still alive. The thought of him free and about on the Earth was a little terrifying even for him. "While it's true that we are not as gone as most of Heaven thinks, we are still not what we once were thanks to Castiel's heresy and to those Winchesters screwing around with the stability of the world. Our numbers have suffered over the years because of it."

"I may have something to help with that. I've managed to find eleven more angels. Some of them targets of Bartholomew's aggression and hunted by Malachai's faction. A few just lost and confused on what to do. They aren't at the same skill or strength as the rest of us but less is better than nothing. They all say that they wish to support us."

"They do, really? Well then, bring them all back here. You know that I wish to see every angel that wishes to join us personally. I will not leave any room for anything or anyone to disturb and corrupt our plans."

"Of course. Right away Joseph," he said before he ended the call.

Nazareth closed the laptop and put it away before he looked off at all the angels spread about the big grand hotel room. They were all looking at him awaiting anything that he had to say. "Pack up all of our belongings," he ordered. "We're moving out."

They sprung to life immediately and started to clean up after themselves. One of them was the angel he found being chased by Bartholomew's men. He was healed of his wounds and moving to zip up his bag. He looked up at Nazareth as he called for him to come to him.

"Yes Nazareth, sir?" he asked timidly.

Nazareth reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "Henry, go to the parking lot and bring the long van to the front of the hotel. We should be ready to go by then."

He nodded. "Of course sir."

Nazareth could see that these angels were happy to have someone give them direction that they knew was meant to give them direction. Nazareth believed that they were tired of following pretenders like Castiel, Naomi and others pretending to offer divine direction. There was only one and had ever been only one angel who is meant to do that.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 11<strong>

A/N: The Powers have arrived. I found that they were among the most famous choirs of angels and yet we haven't come across them yet. I have also introduced the last of the Powers that I'm bringing into this story: Nazareth. I've uploaded who I pictured to portray him on my profile for all of you. There are more Powers around but the ones we will really see are Joseph, Ezekiel, Jedediah and Nazareth. As for those three (Phil, Dennis, Riley) they are true blue officers, state and federal, much like Agent Donavan. What do you think that's all about? Or about Daniel's place in all of this? Or what they are really up to?

The next chapter will have Bartholomew dealing with this new complication in his war against the factions as well as the hunt for Metatron. Castiel also has a personal crisis about his future that Dean and Sam can't help him with. That and he has a face to face with the angel possessing Sam.


	12. Power to the Angels part 2

Chapter 12: Power to the Angels part two

Dean went off to try and get some sleep after everything. After Castiel finished explaining about Joseph the search on the van came back. The van was registered to the U.S. Marshal Service. That explained the strong security that they tripped when they tried to track it. The van had been checked out by a U.S. Marshal named Dennis Richards. He pulled up his picture and they recognized him from the alley back in Texas. Sam was currently in his room trying to look at Dennis Richard's history to see if there was any connection with Daniel or the other people they saw last night.

There was a knock on the door and Sam looked up to see Castiel there.

"Cas," Sam said a little surprised. He put the tablet aside on his bedside drawer and sat straight at the edge. "What's up?"

"I hoped that you and I could talk for a bit."

"Sure."

Castiel moved to a separate side of the room before his gaze wandered off to look at the tablet Sam had just set down. "Have you found out anything?"

"It's slow going. There are a lot of contacts and profiles to go through. Is that it?"

"No, I also wanted to know how everything is going with you."

Sam was confused by that. He stood up and went over to him. "What do you mean Cas? Is this about the trials? Dean keeps on asking about that from time to time but I keep telling him that I feel fine."

"Really? All of you Samuel?'

Sam had a split second where he showed his confusion before his eyes glowed a bright blue. His entire demeanor changed before Castiel and he knew that the angel took over.

"Hello Castiel. It's a real pleasure to see you."

"Yes, I'm honored to meet you as well. Could you please tell me your name? Without my grace I am sad to say that I can't truly see who you are."

The angel closed his eyes for a moment before he breathed out and looked Castiel right in the eye. "I am called Nathaniel."

Castiel never had the chance to really know Nathaniel but he knew that he was a decent angel that tried to fulfill his duty to the best of his ability. Last he heard of him was that he was working for Naomi.

"Interesting tactic for calling yourself forward," he remarked.

"It's nice to officially meet you Castiel," he said reaching for his hand. "I'm sorry for what has happened to you."

Castiel took his hand for a split second before he let it go. "Dean told me everything about your meeting. Thank you for saving Sam Winchester though I am curious about your motives to possess him."

"You were grounded as the Fall took place Castiel. I was up in Heaven as it started and I fell quickly and unexpectedly for the Earth as my wings burned away as I dropped. I was injured and my vessel wasn't built to heal me of all my injuries."

"So you took Sam Winchester who is," he finished. It was a bit scolding.

"I was desperate, I'm sorry to say that Castiel but it was also the way to save one of the humans whom you treasure. I thought I could both heal myself and pay my debt to you."

"And what debt do you owe me Nathaniel?"

"You freed us Castiel. Your actions during the Apocalypse inspired so many of us and I for one was never able to tell you what that meant to me. Even when I sided with you over Raphael I was unable to say anything. I remembered the feel of victory when I heard you had finally triumphed over him. I've always wanted to tell you all this personally but I thought that helping the Winchesters like this would better show you my gratitude."

"From what I hear, you are among the few that feel that kind of gratitude towards me."

"It seems that our brothers and sisters are quick to forget their allegiances these days. I have never faltered in my loyalties. Also, I have been hearing what Dean and Sam have said about you and I know that Metatron stole your grace for his plans. My deepest regrets."

"Thank you. And I do thank you for helping to save Sam Winchester. You may have promised Dean but I want you to give me your word that you'll vacate his body when both you and he are finished healing."

'Nathaniel' nodded. "Of course. Everything should be done within three months if everything goes well. As soon as everything is alright, I'll be happy to give Sam Winchester back fully and completely."

"That's good," Castiel nodded.

"Castiel, if I may ask, what do you intend to do about the Powers? I overheard everything earlier. I had hoped that you had indeed eliminated them for good after the war."

Castiel actually had been trying not to think about that. "I don't know. I don't think there is anything that I can do against the Powers."

"But Castiel…you must do something," Nathaniel looked like he was a hair away from pleading. "If the Powers have their way then who knows what they will do with the rest of us. Or to you? Or even to the Winchesters. They hate all of you for averting the Apocalypse and imprisoning Michael."

"I realize that," he all but snapped. He instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry Nathaniel but I don't know if there is anything I can do about the Powers now that I'm no longer an angel." His face fell lower. "Actually I don't know if there anything I can do about anything now."

"So…you are just going to give up Castiel? We still need you." Nathaniel sounded dejected and disappointed.

"I didn't say that."

"Then…what are you saying?"

"I…I don't know."

"Castiel, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know."

Castiel turned to leave the room while Nathaniel looked on somberly until the door was closed. His face then then went into a small grin.

"You will."

* * *

><p>Daniel, Jedediah and Riley were in a new rental car and driving up Oklahoma that early afternoon. They said bye to Dennis and Phil as they headed back east while they went north to follow the Winchesters' trail. Riley was in the driver's seat with Daniel right next to him. Jedediah was still feeling the effects from the holy fire last night and was taking it easy in the back seat.<p>

Daniel had a sour face as he looked at the tracker in his hand. "Great," he mumbled. "Back at it again."

"What's wrong?" asked Jedediah.

"The signal's disappeared again."

"Just like before?" Riley said looking over at the young man.

"Exactly like before," Daniel said as he tapped on the screen. "It showing the same general area of Kansas."

"What area was that again?'

Daniel examined the area shown on the screen. "It looks like it is a ten mile radius of Lebanon, Kansas."

"Is that the same general area that you saw before when this happened?" Jedediah asked.

"Yes."

"Then we can conclude without a doubt that the Men of Letters Bunker is indeed within that area."

"That's still quite a bit of ground to cover though. There's also no guarantee that the signal gets cut off directly at the bunker itself. For all we know those protections and enchantments to the Bunker could have a radius of their own," Riley said not looking forward to it.

"A regular Hogwarts," Daniel shook his head.

Riley nodded at that. "And if that is the case then what do we do then? We can't just wait around for the signal to appear again when we don't know when to look or not to. For all we know, it could be days before they decide to leave the bunker for whatever reason they come to have. That and the Winchesters saw all of our faces so they will be on the alert for us."

Daniel looked back at Jedediah. "He's right. If they catch just a sight of us in the area then they'll be fully on guard and that could make it next to impossible to track them back to the Bunker."

"Don't be deterred," he said. "You'll find it Daniel just as you were told you would. You just have to learn how. Have faith."

"But no pressure or anything," he said rubbing his eyes furiously. "So how do you think we should search?"

"I can't say. This is your duty and Joseph left you in charge. That is your decision to make, not mine."

Daniel felt his impatience rise but he took a deep breath as he forced it to go away. He knew this wouldn't be easy but it still was hard to experience it firsthand. He was warned many times but he kept insisting that he could handle it. He wouldn't do anything to prove that the faith that he was given was misplaced. What would it say if he gave up after the first few setbacks he had? He would show the angels that he was someone that could be trusted with their faith unlike the last human who had Heaven's confidence.

"Let's head to Lebanon," he said after a few moments. "We'll set up surveillance and work our way there."

"You're in charge," Riley said as he picked up the speed a little.

Yes, he was and it still scared him.

* * *

><p>At an office building there was a preacher doing a live streaming from a church set made inside. There was a camera shooting as he stood behind a podium in front of a green screen. A computer screen nearby was showing that it was creating a background of a moderately cloudy but sunny sky.<p>

"Are you confused? Lost on what direction you need to take your life? Don't fear. I'm Buddy Boyle and I fully understand how you must be feeling. There are many people out there who feel the same way. Let me tell you right here and now that what you're feeling isn't out of place or something to be ashamed of. I felt that way not too long myself. I may have been a success but…what was next? I was lost with what to do with the rest of my life. I started to feel an emptiness that I didn't know how to fill. But do you know what helped me find the way to really doing some solid good. By embracing the grace of god's angels."

_The signal that was being broadcasted was being watched by a good many people on their phones or on their home computers. Many of them looked a little lonely or sad but they seemed to liven a little at the Boyle's words. _

"With their help all the confusion and emptiness we all feel will go away. I see now that I can serve a higher purpose and see to some real good in this world and I spread my wonder to all of you. The grace of those angels are here to seek us out, all we have to do is just let it all in and everything will be clear and I can help you do that. Simply come to my office in Baltimore and I can help you get started with accepting their warmth into your bosom. Simply tell them downstairs that Buddy Boyle wants to help ya and you'll be on the way to bring meaning and fulfillment to your lives. I'll be here waiting for you."

"And we're out," said the cameraman.

"Great shoot people," Buddy Boyle said joyfully to his crew.

A woman from his crew went over to him. "Reverend Boyle, we have two more people being escorted upstairs to see you."

Boyle's smile widened enough to see his teeth. "Excellent Candace. Show those lost lambs in my office please."

"Of course," she said though she looked a little hesitant to leave.

"Is there something wrong dear?" Boyle asked her when he noticed it.

"It's just…I'm wondering if I can join them. I wish to receive the grace of god's angels too."

Boyle's smile dropped a little. "You do? I'm sorry but I don't think it's for you."

"Please Reverend," she pleaded. "My boyfriend just broke up with me and I don't really have any family left. I'm…no use to anyone like I am now. Let me at least be of use to the angels of heaven where I know that my presence serves a greater purpose."

Boyle's throat bobbed but he nodded. "Very well, if that is your choice. Bring the people in and come in with them."

Candace left the room to collect the others while Boyle went into his office where there was someone already sitting in his desk as he received papers from two others.

"Great broadcast Boyle. Comforting and inspiring as usual," he said as Boyle closed the door behind him.

"Thank you sir. One of my assistants is bringing in two more people for you."

"Excellent. I still have quite a few angels in my faction that are without a vessel. They are still a little too weak to seek their own so it's good to keep bringing them to us right here."

"Yes sir," Boyle nodded.

It was a moment later where there was a knock on the door behind them and the assistant's voice

"Reverend Boyle."

Boyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Show them in, Candace." he called out.

Two average looking people came into the room and his assistant Candace closed the door behind her and stood next to them. Reverend Boyle went to shake both of their hands.

"A pleasure to meet you two. I'm Reverend Buddy Boyle." He then gestured off to Bartholomew. "Meet the one who gave me my direction and divine purpose, Bartholomew. He can help you take in the grace of our lord."

Bartholomew stood up from his chair and went to stand before the three of them. "You all look like find people of God's blessed gardens. Do you three wish to receive the grace of the angels of heaven?" he asked sternly.

The two looked to each other in confusion at the blunt question while Candace immediately said yes, looking a little excited. The two others were getting stared at intently before the two of them nodded and said yes as well.

"Do you give yourself over to bear the divinity of the angels of the lord?"

"We give ourselves over to the angels of the lord," said Candace. The other two repeated her words.

"Excellent," said Bartholomew as he raised his arms out.

Suddenly, behind him were three streams of light that went towards the three new vessels. Buddy Boyle held his breath as the three were possessed but relaxed when the three angels opened the eyes of their new bodies.

"God bless," Boyle muttered. He breathed out a sigh of relief until Candace's body started to glow slightly red before she suddenly exploded. Blood and guts sprayed about and Boyle was covered in it. "Candace," he whispered. "Bart, what the hell happened?"

Bartholomew took out a handkerchief and wiped some blood off his chin. "Buddy, I did explain to you once didn't I? Not everyone willing to accept us is built to bear us. Casualties are bound to happen. Unfortunate but inevitable."

This wasn't the first time this happened. Boyle knew but he hoped that he wouldn't see it again especially with someone he knew personally. He stood there stiffly until Bartholomew put his hand on his shoulder and Boyle felt a warmth seeping from that spot and spread throughout his body.

"Like the lamb of the sacrifice," he mumbled as he settled.

Bartholomew took his hand away and rolled his eyes. "Yes, exactly. Why don't you get cleaned up Buddy?"

"Thank you Bart." He said before he turned to leave.

As soon as Boyle left, the smile fell from Bartholomew's face. He glared at the door Boyle left through. "Talk about sacrifice."

One of his assistants stepped up to be next to him. "How can you bear that imbecile Bartholomew?"

"It isn't easy but I keep reminding myself that he is a necessary grievance. He might be a pain but one that's resources are vital to us." He then went to the two new angels. "See them to operations and provide them their new duties."

His assistant bowed before escorting the freshly embodied angels out the office door when another angel walked into the room. He looked a little anxious.

"Sir?" he asked a little panicked. "I have urgent news."

He gestured for him to enter while he went to sit back down at his desk. "Did you eliminate that group of wandering angels?"

"All but one sir."

Bartholomew glared at him. "One escaped?" he spat out.

"We were pursuing him when there was an incident. I was waiting in the car as the others cornered him. Before they could eliminate him, he was assisted by another angel. He slew the others singlehandedly."

He leaned forward from his chair. "One slew three? Who? Castiel?"

The angel shook his head. "No sir. It was…Nazareth."

The sound of the name made his remaining assistant look to Bartholomew in shock and a little fear. Bartholomew actually looked taken aback himself.

"Nazareth? One of the Powers? It can't be, they are supposed to be dead. Are you positive of what you saw?"

The angel nodded. "Yes."

Bartholomew was silent for a few moments as he struggled to find his voice again. "What else happened?"

"I left the area as soon as it happened and came back here as fast as I could. I knew that you had to be informed of this immediately."

Bartholomew got up from his chair and walked around his desk to the angel. He put his hand on the angel's shoulder. "Well done." Bartholomew didn't spare another moment as he withdrew his blade and struck the angel down. "If what he saw is true then that could mean that more than Nazareth could be out there. Even Joseph could be out there and if he is then there is a chance that they've already achieved stability."

"Sir," said his assistant. "If the rest of the faction hears about this then there will be panic. The Powers still command fear and awe to their names. There could be a great deal of desertion and second guessing amongst our numbers. Our operation isn't completely stable yet and this could bring it all apart."

"You're right," Bartholomew nodded before he took the blade and struck down his assistant as well. "That's why this doesn't leave this room."

* * *

><p>Castiel hardly was able to sleep that night. What Nathaniel had said rattled around his head to harshly to give him the peace of mind to sleep. What now? What was he going to do? He couldn't just keep himself here forever. Besides, Nathaniel was right, the angels still needed him. Most of them wanted him dead but that didn't mean that they didn't need him any less. But how can he help them? He didn't know how but he did know one thing: he couldn't do anything staying here.<p>

Castiel gathered a bag and put in some clothes that Sam and Dean had given him as well as some money and started to head out but it wasn't unnoticed. He stumbled onto Dean who was in the study on a computer.

"Going somewhere Cas?"

"Yes. Dean, I can't stay here. I have to leave."

He put his bag on the floor and walked over to him. "Where are you going to go?"

He shook his head. "I don't know Dean but I do know that I'm not needed here. I'm needed out there."

"Cas, if any of the angels find you then they will skin you alive."

Yes, he didn't need Dean to tell him that. He knew if he was lucky that would be the least they would do to him. "I realize that but I have to go Dean. I don't belong here, not like this. And, even though I may not be an angel anymore, I still have a responsibility to Heaven. I have to do something to help the angels."

"Cas, how are you supposed to do that? You just said that you're not an angel anymore. How can you help them when you aren't one of them anymore?"

"I…I don't know," he said almost a copy of what he said with Nathaniel. "But…if I stay here then I'll never find the answer for myself. I spoke with Nathaniel, the angel that is within Sam," he said when Dean looked confused.

"The guy's real name is Nathaniel? Can we really trust the guy?"

"He seems sincere. He has always been a behind the scenes sort but I've heard he always means well. Nathaniel assures me that he'll leave your brother's body as soon as everything is alright. He should serve you well."

"That's good to hear." From the beginning, he has had a funny feeling about the angel in his brother but if Cas says the guy is alright then he guesses that he'll be able to trust him after all.

"Well, as I said, I talked with him and I realized that this isn't my place right now. I caused my brothers so much pain and confusion and I have to do what I can to make things right again."

Dean was silent for a while before he nodded. "Okay. I get it. I may not like it but I get it." He did. He has done a lot of things in the past that he was not proud of but the thing that kept him going was the fact that he could still fight to make things right. If someone told him to stay back and let someone else handle it, he wouldn't have let that stop him at all. "But, if you're going to go then it won't be on foot."

Dean took Castiel to the Bunker's garage and pointed out to the cars.

Castiel just looked at him completely lost on the situation. "I don't understand."

"Take your pick," Dean said simply. "Just not my baby."

"You're giving me a car?"

"Hey, it's a large country. Having a car isn't like having wings but it's always worked for me."

Castiel didn't seem to want to just take one. "Dean, I can't just-"

"Hey pal, these cars are all great but I can only drive one at a time and there are more than I could ever drive. So take one."

Castiel spent a few more minutes being hesitant before he just chose the nearest car and took off. Dean watched the car go through the tunnel with a hard look on his face.

* * *

><p>The great manor's gates sprung open as the van pulled up the private road to the main house of the property. The angels in the long van looked out the window at the beautiful and impressive grounds and they could make out people, normal humans, seeing to them by mowing the grass and tending to the flowerbeds. Nazareth pulled the car up to the main house.<p>

"We're here," he said as he unbuckled his seat belt and unlocked the car doors.

The angels exited the van one by one until they stood in a small cluster in front of the manor's front doors. The doors creaked open and Ezekiel came out with a small smile as he looked upon the group.

"Welcome," he said as stepped up to them.

They all looked in awe at Ezekiel, another angel of the Powers who wasn't dead.

Nazareth went over to him. "Is Joseph in?"

Ezekiel nodded. "He's in the reception hall. Waiting for them." He then looked to all the angels. "Come in everyone. Welcome to the Paradise Pavilion."

The angels looked a little scared. Joseph's reputation was infamous as the leader of the Powers. A mighty and fierce warrior. Needless to say they were feeling very intimidated and they hadn't even set eyes on him yet. They were escorted past the front doors into the hall were the floor was covered by a grand white carpet that had the enochian symbol for Michael embezzled on it. At the top of the mark stood Joseph. Like Nazareth and Ezekiel, the angels were surprised to see for their own eyes that he wasn't really dead as they had previously thought. There were a handful of other angels in the hall as well and they went to close the door and stand in front of them when all the new arrivals came in. Nazareth and Ezekiel went to stand on either side of Joseph before he stepped forward and began to study the new arrivals.

Joseph spent a good hour as he looked at each one of them in the eye to read each angel. It was a gift that strong angels tended to have with lower rank angels. He saw that each one of them were genuine in their thoughts of wanting to be here. They were all scared and they had been confused and lost on what to do with everything that had happened. What they had all been so sure of what was the right path had just led them all from bad to worse. They wanted to come back to the right path. Joseph was happy to see that.

"It's a pleasure to have you with us," Joseph said as he took his original place between his fellow Powers at the top of the point of the carpet where the top of the symbol was. "First, rest assured that this place is safe. It has belonged to the Powers since its construction over half a century ago. This manor and the grounds were built to be completely free from the presence of all things and beings of Hell origin. Also, there are humans here that are well aware of us. They have their own place here as well as their own purposes."

"Don't worry about their well-being," said Ezekiel. "They are well protected and know how to look out for themselves. The humans here are loyal to the Powers and thus are the Powers' responsibility."

Joseph nodded in agreement before he looked to readdress the new angels. "I'm sure that you all are wondering how the three of us are alive. It is quite a story but one I will not share with you now. Just know that the day Castiel slew Raphael's forces we Powers were not there at all. We had abandoned our support of Raphael when we learned that he didn't have Heaven's needs in his priorities so Castiel didn't smite even one of us on the day he committed heresy by proclaiming himself as the New God. We had abandoned Raphael and went on our own to restore the order of Heaven."

This made many of their eyes jump out. It was clear that the rumors were exaggerated but to be told they were not true at all. It brought many other questions on what might or might not be true.

"So all the Powers are still alive?" asked Henry, the angel that Nazareth saved from Bartholomew's hitmen. Ezekiel and Nazareth glared slightly at him for interrupting Joseph that he shrunk a little.

Joseph wasn't offed by the interruption. In fact, he took it in because it would help him make his point come in clearer. "Sadly no," Joseph said a little stiffly. "While the heretic Castiel, the one you all served if I'm not mistaken," he added quickly to shamefully remind them. They all ducked their heads at the tone Joseph used as if they were small child scolded by their parents. "he may not have directly attacked us there is what he indirectly did. He caused great damage when he pilfered Purgatory of its souls and released the Leviathan and it took the lives of many of my fellow Powers to quell the damage. As it is, there are only a dozen of us left. We alone were left to clean up the damage that an angel wrought in his bid to try and take control of Heaven for his own because none of our fellow brothers and sisters sought any responsibility. They were all fighting each other to have dominion of our father's kingdom when his throne doesn't belong to any of them."

Joseph looked both upset and angry as he spoke all of this. Ezekiel and Nazareth had hard looks on their faces as the memories of that time. The other angels in the room were feeling the guilt by being indirect tools for this tidbit of news. Joseph was not done.

"However, you can repent for your transgressions here and now with us. Know here and now that I have no interest in taking the throne for myself. I serve the one whom the throne rightfully belongs to by the will of Our Father. The one that most of Heaven spurned at the earliest opportunity for their own interests. The one whom we will free to re-take his rightful place as our guide and defender." He looked to the symbol on the floor as he gestured his arms out to it. "Our great older brother. Our one TRUE leader."

"Michael," they all mumbled.

"Yes," Joseph nodded. "We will free Michael."

The angels all were looking to one another in both fear and awe. The concept of the Powers being among them was one thing, but for the Archangel Michael to return, that was a concept that had a class by itself.

"But…how, sir?" Henry quickly added as he asked aloud again.

"Just as Lucifer was freed," he answered. "By the will of a human that is destined to do great things. However, unlike Dean Winchester this human serves Heaven willfully and wholeheartedly. He is out on a mission as we speak to acquire the tools to do so. I have no doubts that he will succeed and when he does, you will meet him. For security I can not tell you his name or what his mission currently is but despite that keep him in your prayers as he keeps us in his."

Joseph soon entered his personal office with Ezekiel and Nazareth right behind him.

"Brilliant speech sir," said Nazareth. "It looks like you got them fired up for the work ahead."

"Work is right," Joseph said as he stopped at his desk and looked back at his two comrades. "We have quite a bit of it ahead of us."

"Sir?" Nazareth asked.

"We've encountered a problem," he explained. "Shortly before you arrived, Ezekiel and I received quite the bit of news."

"It's not about Daniel, is it?" he asked a little alarmed.

"No, no, he assures me that everything is still fine. He and Jedediah are with Riley from the Battalion and they are beginning their investigation of an area that they are sure the Men of Letters Bunker is located."

Nazareth breathed in relief.

Ezekiel let him before he went on to share the dire news. "Anyway, that's not the problem. The news came from Abel."

"Abel?"

"Yes," Joseph grunted. "He felt quite the disturbance earlier this week. He didn't want to alarm us until he was absolutely sure. His senses brought him to a dairy farm over in Wisconsin, the area of a prime Hell Gate."

"A Hell Gate was disturbed?"

"Worse," spat Ezekiel. "Something escaped…or rather someone. Someone that Abel hoped never would."

Nazareth looked from Ezekiel to Joseph. Both of them had hard looks on their faces. "No," he whispered. "You don't mean-"

"I'm afraid we do." Joseph went off and paced until he was staring out of his office's window. "Cain has been freed."

"What are we going to do sir?" Nazareth asked when he recovered enough to speak.

Joseph kept his gaze out the window. "Abel is taking it upon himself to look into it. He is insistent that Cain is his responsibility and we should keep our focus on the heretics, rogues and on freeing our big brother."

"He's not doing this alone, is he?"

Ezekiel snorted. "He wishes he could. However, Joseph would not have it. Abel was ordered to keep at least two other angels with him as he hunts for Cain. He has Stephen and Nathaniel with him now."

* * *

><p>The angel in Sam was laying on the bed smiling into the ceiling. He had been smiling ever since he sensed Castiel leave.<p>

"So the Powers are still alive. No matter. If things keep going to plan then soon not even they could stop me. As long as I can keep steering Castiel and Dean Winchester to do what I need them to do."

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 12<strong>

A/N: Now the objective of the Powers and the Battalion is clear: the liberation of the Archangel Michael. How exactly do they plan to pull that off though? Also, if Nathaniel is really with the Powers in another vessel than who is the angel in Sam?

The next chapter will be called No Vacancy. It would seem that there are multiple hauntings in the homes of families that are unusual even for Sam and Dean's pay grade.


	13. No Vacancy

Chapter 13: No Vacancy

A car pulled up the driveway of a house in the dead of night. The doors opened and a mother and a teenage girl got out of the driver and passenger seats while a young boy let himself out of the back seat. They were all dressed in formal clothes but they all wore a woeful look on each of their faces that matched the other. When they entered the house, the mother broke down when she saw the family picture hanging in the family room. A photo that had the three of them in it with a middle aged man also.

Her daughter went to wrap her arms around her. "It's okay mom."

Despite her words she too was crying. The little boy was standing off to the side as he looked at his shoes.

"I'm okay," the mother said as she separated from her daughter. "Really, I'm fine."

"I'll go make us some coffee," her daughter said.

"Thank you Erica," her mother said gratefully.

The girl went to get the coffee maker ready while the boy took a glass and filled it with water. He drank it and started to head upstairs to his room when he saw something move off the corner of his eye. He went off to the family room and his face brightened. He then took off for the kitchen as fast as he could.

"Mom! Erica!

"Dex," his mother cried out. "What's wrong?!"

The boy went to his mother and then turned around and pointed for the family room. "It's dad! Dad's home!"

His sister and mother looked to each other sadly before looking down at him. "Dex, dad's gone. You know that. We buried him today."

"No," Dex said shaking his head. "He's right there mom."

"Dex," his sister said a little harshly. They were still hurting right now and this wasn't funny.

"Look, he's right there."

The mother and daughter went to see what had the little boy so excited and they saw someone standing in the room. It was the man in the portrait. He looked sadly at them as he extended his hand out to them.

"Sweetie," he mumbled.

"See," the boy said looking up at them.

The mother and the daughter screamed out at the top of their lungs.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean were having breakfast in the Bunker's kitchen. Dean was glaring at his plate of pancakes while Sam lightly picked at his eggs.<p>

"So he just left?" Sam asked before he went and took a sip from his glass of water.

"Yeah. I couldn't stop him. At least I made sure he had everything he needed before he left."

"You think he'll be okay?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded as he cut another piece of his pancake stack and shoved them in his mouth. "He'll be fine," he said through the food in his mouth. "Cas may be socially awkward but he knows how to land on his feet."

"He's human now though." Sam tried to point out.

"Yeah, but I think he's been handling it pretty good in his first two months. He managed to get here more or less without a scratch. I don't know what or how he plans to do out there but he wants to find out."

Sam went to take another stab at his eggs. "Well he's got that part of being a human down at least."

"Yeah," he coughed out. Dean wanted a change in topic. "So, did you find anything out about that U.S. Marshal?"

"Dennis Richards? No, I couldn't find too much on him that was strange. He's 34 years old and joined the Marshal Service at 27. He lives over in Oxford, Mississippi, is an only child and is unmarried. No connections to the supernatural that I could find."

"So, you think we should head over for Oxford and find out what didn't make his bio?"

Sam raised his eyebrows at him. "Go and confront a sanctioned U.S. Marshal that no doubt has federal and national connections and protection? You want to add all that on our asses on top of demons and angels after us?"

Dean took a second to take that in. "Yeah…maybe not the best plan. So what do we do about these guys?"

"I don't know. We don't know too much yet on what's going on and until we know more we shouldn't gamble on striking against people like Dennis Richards unless we have to."

"Then let's stick to what we do have to do? We should find us some work."

After breakfast, the two of them were in the study looking into things. Dean was making a few calls while Sam was surfing the news for anything out of the ordinary. Dean cut the call and all but slammed his phone down on the table.

"Problems?" he asked unnecessarily.

"I tried calling out to some of our contacts but they say that they don't want to have anything to do with demons, or even angels because it could lead them back to demons."

"Looks like Abaddon scared quite a few hunters with what she did to Jeffrey Cranston and the others."

"If they tuck tail and run over something like this then maybe they shouldn't have been hunters at all." Dean faced things that not even most hunters would believe and he was still in this, what was their excuse?

Sam couldn't blame them for backing away and putting distance between themselves and all of this. Hunters were still human and humans were entitled to get scared.

"You try Garth?"

"Yeah, still nothing. Where the hell is this guy?"

"When it comes to Garth, who can't even begin to guess?" Dean let out a chuckle in agreement. "Anyway, I think I might have something that for us." He started as Dean went over to get a better look. "So, over in Pennsylvania there is this family, the Garlands who had come home that night after the funeral of the father/husband and they claimed that they saw his ghost in the house."

He looked at Sam in disbelief. "Really?" How did this sound like their thing? No one stumbles onto a ghost like that.

"Just wait, listen to this next part. The widow Mrs., well Ms. Garland called the police and they enter the house and see nothing. Before they could all clear out some of the officers were pelted by objects on the ground by someone they only saw a glimpse of. They then tried to go after him but insisted that he just disappeared. When the family was asked if they knew who it was, they kept insisting it was Mr. Garland."

Now Dean was getting convinced. "Okay, now that's weird."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean drove east to Williamsport, Pennsylvania where they met with the family that had the scare inside the motel room that they were in. The three of them looked pretty freaked out. Sam and Dean began asking them questions about that night. The daughter was answering the questions as the boy just stared at the two of them while the mother sat at the table in the corner of the room.<p>

"My brother just came in and told us he saw our father. We didn't believe him at first but when he dragged us into the family room, there he was. Just…standing there, looking right at us."

"Your father," Dean started. "How did he look? Did anything about him seem different?"

"You mean besides being the corpse we had put in the ground earlier that day? No." she snapped at him.

"Did your father do anything or say anything when you saw him?" asked Sam trying to work through Erica Garland's distress.

"Okay enough!" Mrs. Garland barked. "Why does the FBI even care about this?" the woman spat out. "Since when do you look into the delusions of crazy people? The police just laughed at us and chalked up everything that happened to expressions of grief. They were calling us crazy. There is nothing here for you so just leave my family alone." Her voice started cracking and it was clear she was trying not to cry.

"Have you seen or heard us laugh at any of this?" Dean asked her with a hard face. Mrs. Garland stared straight at him. "Look Mrs. Garland, we're trying to help you and your family. I'm sure that you want that to but before we can help you then you have to tell us everything we need to know about all of this."

Mrs. Garland narrowed her eyes to give the two of them a better look. "What's going on? You two hear us talk about ghosts and you take us seriously. You're not putting on any act or anything. It's almost like you really do believe us."

Sam and Dean caught each other's eyes and they nodded in a silent agreement.

"That's because we do," said Sam. "Now I'm sure that you want to understand what's happening but before you and your kids can you have to let my brother and I help you."

"And we can," Dean added softly.

Mrs. Garland looked to her daughter and son for a moment before she went to dry the corners of her eyes of tears. "Okay."

"Now, your husband," Sam started.

"Scott," she said.

"Right, did Scott have any unresolved issues or any strong unfinished business he couldn't deal with before his death."

Mrs. Garland shook her head. "No, nothing that I can think of."

"How did he die exactly?" asked Dean.

"Scott was working at the steel mill when slipped off a platform and fell down onto a jagged piece of metal that pierced his lung. The doctors tried to save him but…"

"And you say that his ghost has been in your home?" Dean asked again. "It hasn't left."

"No, we've been here in this motel for the last two days. I tried to checking the house yesterday, on my own, and I saw him through our house windows just staring out at me so we've been staying away."

It was an hour later where Sam and Dean followed the Garlands to their house. They changed out of their Fed suits into their basic clothes and they brought out shotguns with salt rounds. They hated to do this with them being so close but the family was insistent for them to see if it really was Mr. Garland.

The two of them told the young girl and little boy to stay outside while the mother let them into the house.

"We saw him just through there," she said pointing to the family room.

Sam pulled out his shotgun while Dean pulled out his gun and EMF. It started beeping and lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"We got something alright," he mumbled as they entered the room.

Sam took a look up at the family portrait that hung of the family. He looked at it a little sadly to see the four faces look so happy which he doubts the remaining three will ever be again after all this.

"Who are you?"

Sam and Dean turned around and drew their shotguns on the sight of the ghost that was behind them and Mrs. Garland. Mr. Garland stood there as he slightly flickered for a second as he glared at Sam and Dean.

"Scott Garland?" Sam asked as he tightened his hold on his gun.

"That's right. Who the hell are you two? Why are you in my home with guns?" He turned to his wife. "Laura, step away from them."

"Don't touch me," she cried out as she backed away from him.

"Laura?"

He started to step for his wife but Dean shot him with a buckshot full of salt and he vanished. At the shot, the two kids ran into the house to see what happened.

"No, stay back," Sam cried out to them.

Mr. Garland flickered back behind Sam as he slammed him away. Dean turned to shoot Mr. Garland again but he hit missed when the ghost flickered out again and appeared in front of him and then tossed him across the house onto the kitchen table.

"Stay away from my family!" he roared as he went for Dean again.

Little Dex Garland ran over to his father's ghost and put his hands out to him. "Dad, please stop!"

"Dex?"

"Stop, please just stop," he said as tears started to form in his eyes.

Mr. Garland looked down at his little boy as he just let himself calm down. Dean sat up from the side of the table as he saw the father's ghost get settled down by his son's presence. "Look Scott, my brother and I are not here to hurt your family. We're trying to help them. Whatever problems you have, you have to let them go."

"Problems, what are you talking about?"

"We're talking about whatever it is that's keeping you here," Sam fixed himself up. "Did someone arrange for you to be in that accident?"

"Arrange. No, I just slipped. The only thing I'm angry at that is myself for being so stupid to not pay closer attention to where I was stepping."

So Scott wasn't killed but there had to be something tying him here. "Then, what is that's making you lash out at everything and everyone here?"

"Why are you haunting your family Scott?" Dean asked a little rough.

Scott looked at the two of them like they were nuts. "Lash out? Haunting? I was only trying to see my family and keep them safe."

"Safe? Like with the blues that came here? Why did you attack those cops? Or us?" Dean went to rub his side where he hit the table.

"They were teasing my wife and kids. Calling them paranoid lunatics. I couldn't let that stand. And then, you two complete strangers come into my home, with guns and you shoot me which really hurt. I thought I wasn't supposed to feel that kind of stuff anymore."

Dean was getting lost. This was the weirdest restless spirit he'd ever met. They got settled in the family room and Sam and Dean asked Scott Garland about what happened to him.

"Just, start at the beginning," Dean said calmly to Scott.

"Well," he said as he said in his favorite armchair. "I remember being in the hospital after the accident. So much pain and the next thing I knew was that I was looking over my body and seeing you still crying at the operation window Laura."

Laura and the children seemed to feel an inkling of the past pain return on them.

Sam gave them a few seconds before trying to pick out some more answers. "Umm, Scott? Did you happen to see anyone after that? Maybe a man or a woman in a suit?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "About an hour or so later. This weird looking man in a suit appeared and he told me that I had to choose to move on."

"So you chose to stay so you could stay with your family?" Dean asked.

But Scott raised his eyebrows. "No. I did choose to go but he said that before I could I would have to wait my turn before someone came to take me up to Heaven where I'm meant to go."

"Hold on, he told you that you had to wait?" Dean said looking as confused as he sounded and felt.

Sam was too. Wait his turn? Since when did a reaper make souls take a number?

"Yeah. Said something about how trips to Heaven were suffering great delays and that I should wait calmly until someone able was available to take me up. Said that he wasn't one of the carriers able to make that journey now. After he told me that, I asked if I could wait at my house and he agreed."

"Wait?" asked Sam. "For how long?"

"He said that it could take about five to eight weeks."

"Five to eight-" Dean wasn't getting this. "Um, this man, did he say why there were these delays?"

Scott shook his head. "No, he didn't say?"

"So…our dad is really here to stay?" asked Erica.

"Yeah," Dean breathed out. "It looks like, at least for a little while."

* * *

><p>"That was freaky," Dean said as they drove off.<p>

"Dean, do you really think we should be leaving that family with that ghost like that?"

"And what exactly are we supposed to do Sam? Burn his bones? He's not a restless spirit and besides, he said that the reaper told him that he would be sent up as soon as they had someone that could get him up. Besides…maybe it might be good for them." He thinks that if he were in their position he would have liked to have a little extra time with their dad to talk about things that they couldn't when he was alive.

Sam didn't seem to share that view. "People living with ghosts of their loved ones? We tried that with Bobby, remember? That worked out well."

"Well, Bobby stayed because he ran from his reaper. This guy didn't. Like I said, he's not a restless spirit."

"I know but, since when are there reapers that can't take people up to Heaven? I thought they were able to come and go anyway they wanted? You think he was lying, maybe?"

"I don't know. Pretty wild lie for a guy that probably didn't believe in ghosts until he became one. It's so unbelievable that I'm actually ready to believe it."

"But why? What's going on with the reapers? Scott said that his reaper said that they were suffering delays which means that this isn't just happening here."

"Can't even begin to guess. But we can add this to the list of crazy and unexplained crap on our plates now."

"Without any leads how are we supposed to find out what's going on with these delays?"

"We could find a reaper and ask? Hey, I even know a reaper personally."

"Dean, they're reapers not demons and ghosts. We can't just summon one to come talk to us and even if we did we would have to be dead."

Sam had a point and considering what the angel in Sam was doing he didn't think Death would be happy to drop by and do him a solid either. "Well, Scott said that there were delays for spirits going to Heaven. At least that means only the Caspers of the world are floating around more, right?"

* * *

><p>There was an apartment over in Corning, New York where a man brought a woman into her apartment as they were connected by their lips. They were laughing as they came in and slammed the door behind them. He turned on the light to make it easier to get to the couch. As they started getting more into their make-out session, the phone starting ringing.<p>

"Ignore it," the woman said to the guy.

They kept at it over the rings before there was buzz from the phone as it said the answering machine message to the caller to leave a message.

"Dad," said a teen boy's voice. "Where are you? You promised that you would meet with my girlfriend's parents. They want to meet you especially with what happened to our family with Stacy over a month ago. Just…call me back."

The woman unstuck her lips from him. "Stacy?"

"My daughter," he grunted as he looked at a nearby photo of a young woman in her early twenties. He shook his head. "She was mugged a month ago and…just forget about it. I'd rather not talk about it."

He went to reach for her again but the woman eased back a bit. Clearly the mood was gone.

"Can I see your bathroom?"

He pointed it out and she got up to use it. The man settled into the couch as he looked and huffed at the picture.

"Still causing trouble," he mumbled at it.

He got up to get himself a beer from the fridge. He got a bottle and shut the door and turned around to see the image of his daughter standing right there.

He dropped the bottle and it shattered on the floor. "What the hell?"

"You deadbeat bastard!" the girl growled.

The bathroom door opened and the woman walked out in time get sprayed in some blood. Her scream filled the apartment.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean pulled out in next to the apartment complex where they could already see a few police cars at the front.<p>

"Run me by what happened again," Dean said as he got out of the driver's seat and went to straighten his tie.

"Okay, a guy was brutally killed in his apartment last night and the only witness was a woman he had over. He claims that a girl tore through him. A girl whose picture was right there in the apartment. His daughter's photo except the girl died a month ago in a mugging."

"A ghost kill?"

"Looks like. I checked the daughter's background. Twenty four. She seemed like a good person. She even had official custody of her 15 year old brother."

"Like Scott Garland, except for the killing. Maybe it's not the same thing though."

"No, I think it could be."

"Why?"

"Well, her mother died five years ago and the father was deemed unfit by Child Services to take care of his son. Negligence and Alcoholism was a constant problem so his sister took him in under supervision considering she was only 19. Maybe she was heaven bound but had to wait and couldn't resist going after the dad. Apparently, her brother's been staying at a friend's house since her death. Maybe she thought enough was enough."

"Awesome," Dean said as he straightened his suit as they went to head into the building.

They headed for the apartment that was being crowded by police. Dean's pocket started beeping and saw that his EMF was already going off before they actually entered the apartment. It was a ghost all right. After switching the EMF off, Sam and Dean went forward and flashed their FBI badges at the guards. The cop at the front narrowed his eyes at them.

"More agents?"

"More?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, there is already one in there."

"Really?" asked Dean.

The two of them walked into the apartment where they saw that the agent's back was to them as he was clutched down looking at the tarp covered body.

"Sir," said one of the cops. "It looks like two of your buddies are here to join you."

"Really?"

Dean and Sam narrowed their eyes. They recognized that voice. The agent in question straightened himself up and then turned to them revealing that it was Agent Donavan, the FBI agent they met over a month ago. From the look in his eyes, he remembered them well.

"Well…" he said as he looked them over. "Look who's here."

"Agent Donavan," Sam said in response.

"Mind if I speak to you two in private?" he said as he pointed to a corner of the apartment that was vacant.

It was clear that it wasn't a request. They went off to the corner where Sam and Dean had their backs to the wall as Agent Donavan stared them down.

"This isn't what this looks like," Dean started.

"Really?" Donavan said he brought his lower lip out slightly. "Because it looks to me like two men, men that were involved in a murder investigation are now trying to trespass in another one posing as FBI agents."

"Okay, so it is how it looks." Dean choked out.

Sam looked over at the rest of the room and it didn't seem like the other officers thought this unusual yet. In case of anything it should be not too hard to run past all of them if they had to. "There is a perfectly good explanation for this if you'll let us explain," he started.

"I don't intend for you to and I don't care." He was glaring at them now. "Look, I'm in a generous mood right now. So I'm giving you only a minute to leave this building or else I raise an alarm on you. I would do it now but I have real work to do here," he said as he lifted his right arm and pointed his thumb behind him. "dealing with an investigation and I don't have time to deal with any bull shit from you two."

Dean and Sam's eyes were drawn to the guy's hand or more specifically to the leather cuff he was wearing below his wrist that was peeking out of the slit in his shirt cuff. A sight that actually answered a few lingered questions surrounding their last encounter with the agent.

Dean immediately cut in. "Don't worry, we're leaving. Right Sam?"

"Right," he nodded.

The two of them started to head out the door as calmly as they could in the presence of the other officers.

"I shouldn't be seeing you two around here for a while, right?" Donavan called out as they started out the door.

"No, I don't think so. Sorry for the mix up. " Dean said before they went out the apartment door.

"Sir," said one of the officers. "What was that all about?"

"Mistake of assignment. You know how it is," he said shrugging it off.

The officer nodded as he accepted the explanation but Donavan still stared out the apartment door for a bit before he went back to work in analyzing the crime scene.

* * *

><p>After that whole thing in the apartment, Sam and Dean went and checked into a motel where they began to look up Agent Logan Donavan. Sam was able to pull up his file in under two minutes.<p>

"Logan Donavan," Sam began to read. "He's joined the bureau at 26 and has had an average solve rate when it comes to cases. Says here that his breakthrough case was bringing in a serial killer that worked three states about three years ago. He…was engaged once to another agent but it didn't work out. His parents live over in Portland, has a sister that's working as a paralegal."

"Sounds like an average guy. Just like that U.S. Marshal we met. So he's just like those guys that are working with the Powers?"

"Yeah, and just like those guys we ran into, Donavan seems to know and understand exactly who we are. Just what the hell is with them anyway?"

"Think they might be hired help? Guys that the angels found that they think they can use to help them now that they grounded."

"But the angels fell two months ago. These guys sound like they've been in the game for much longer than that."

Sam had a point. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe…new hunters."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. The only way for sure is to ask one of them what is going on."

"We'll add it to the list. But, right now we have to focus on why we came here in the first place. We need to check out that apartment. Find out if this spirit is like Scott Garland. If it's not hanging out there then we can summon it back."

"How are we going to do that? Donavan is sure to be watching the apartment to make sure that we don't go back."

Dean lips curved into a small smirk. "Yeah and since when have ever let something like that stop us Sammy?"

* * *

><p>As they thought, they saw that the building had a police car in front of it. Sam and Dean snuck in through a back entrance and then broke into the apartment and carefully stepped around the crime scene tape to make sure they didn't leave any trace behind that anyone had been here. Dean was holding the paper bag full of supplies for their séance. They took a bowl and prepared the spell. Dean went and chanted the spell and the lights in the apartment started to flicker on and off slightly before a girl appeared in front of them. One who matched the picture on the table by the couch.<p>

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Calm down, we aren't going to hurt you. We just want to talk." Dean said trying to calm her. "Alright, what's your name?"

"Stacy," she answered.

"Okay, Stacy, we got to ask. Were you here the other night?"

She glared at them a little. "Maybe."

"You were here," said Sam. "You came to kill your father."

"That bastard. He thought he could just leave me and my brother to just do whatever and whoever he wanted all of our lives. Even when our mother died, he still couldn't care less about us. It was always about him and what he wanted. If he wasn't interested in being a father then he shouldn't have had kids in the first place. I was more parent to my little brother than our father ever was."

Dean and Sam were feeling a little sympathetic for Stacy. Dean remembered feeling some of those kind of feelings for his father when he was gone for weeks with no sign while he stayed behind to look out for his brother. Sam understood the anger too. How their father dragged them everywhere where there was a job and yet wasn't even around for a good deal of the time.

Stacy wasn't done. "When I saw that he was going out of his way to ignore my brother to screw some bimbo I thought enough was enough."

"Look Stacy," Dean said trying not to lash out at her. Hard feelings aside, he still wouldn't actually go and kill his father. "I'm the last person to talk but you shouldn't have done that."

"What do you know?" she barked.

Dean didn't even blink. "More than you would think."

"Stacy," Sam said stepping in. "Could you tell us if anything strange happened after you died last month."

"What do you mean strange?"

"Did you happen to meet anyone? Maybe a person in a suit?"

"Well, I did meet this girl. I think she said her name was Tessa."

"Tessa?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, she said that I had to choose to go with her or not. I did say yes but she said that I would have to wait for a while before I could go to Heaven. That was over three weeks ago and I haven't seen her yet so I decided to check on my family and saw my father still letting my brother down."

Just like with Scott Garland.

"Did Tessa tell you anything about why you had to wait?"

"Yeah, she said that Heaven had been locked up and not too many reapers were strong enough to get past the new locks. I would have to wait for the ones that were strong enough to take me. But she said it could take a while because there were a lot of other people waiting just like me."

"New locks?" Dean repeated before looking to Sam.

They had the same conclusion forming into their heads. The spell that Metatron used to cause the angels to fall. That must be the new locks that Tessa had talked about.

Yet before they could think more on it, the lights started to flicker again.

"Stacy, what are you doing?" Sam asked.

Stacy just looked around a little confused. "Me? That's not me. I'm not doing anything." Then a wind was starting to pick up inside the apartment. Stacy was looking more freaked out. "No, stop it!" she cried out.

Just then a cloud of black smoke broke through the windows. Sam and Dean ducked as the smoke surrounded Stacy and whisked her away in spite of her screams. When the smoke left, there was no sign of Stacy.

"Demons," Dean said as they settled back down.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 13<strong>

A/N: What the hell is going on? Ghosts that have no reason to stay and can't head to Heaven right away and now demons are coming in to kidnap them. Sam and Dean haven't had this happen in their ghost hunts before. Not to mention that Agent Donavan is around and he isn't being so easy on them this time around. He just gave the brothers a stern warning instead of trying to book them which is bound to confuse them and they see that he is a member of the Battalion though they still don't understand what is going on with them yet.

The next part of this case will have the brothers face the demons and their plans for the ghosts they are apparently taking. Also they come face to face with Agent Donavan as well as another surprise visitor that throws them for another loop.


	14. No Vacancy part 2

Chapter 14: No Vacancy part two

Agent Donavan left the sheriff's office that night after he oversaw the analysis of the body. He made sure that the coroner verified that the woman the victim hadn't left any physical evidence on the body that could point the finger at her. He knew that she hadn't killed the man and didn't want her to suffer arrest when she hadn't done anything to deserve it. He then received a call from the car that he left in front of the building. He had a feeling a certain pair might skulk around so he asked the sheriff to leave a car in front of the building to his confusion. He couldn't see why Donavan would want someone to watch a crime scene but still obliged. The officers said that a neighbor called to report loud glass breaking and booming noises from the apartment and when they went to investigate they saw that the doors were open, windows were broken and there was a smell.

He immediately went off to the building to see everything for himself. Donavan went the apartment to see that the smell was that of sulfur. The broken glass of the window had the glass inside the room which means that something broke in and these windows are nine stories up. He also saw that the table at the kitchen had a few pieces of dried plants or herbs. He had a good idea what had happened.

Donavan thanked them for calling and then went to his parked car. He took out his phone and went to call Daniel.

"Danny?" he said when he heard Daniel's voice say hello.

"_What's up Logan?_"

"I'm over in New York."

"_City or State?_" he asked.

"State," he said with a small smile before he went serious again. "Danny, listen, is Jedediah there with you? I need to run a few things by him."

Daniel's tone went serious as well. "_Of course, want me to put you on speaker?_"

"Okay," he said as he got into his car.

"_I'm here Agent Donavan_," Jedediah said. "_What's wrong?_"

"Plenty, first, are you still tracking the Winchesters?"

"_Yeah, yesterday I saw that they were someplace in Pennsylvania. Though we're still here in Lebanon. Now that they are gone, we have more leeway to search the area without worrying about being seen. Riley is checking into the local police department for any incidents in the area that might point us in the right direction._"

"Well, those two may have been in Pennsylvania but they are here now. In New York. They're working a case involving a murder done by a ghost. I did some background checking on the life of this person and I think it might be one of those grounded spirits that Ezekiel told me about."

He could hear Jedediah's grunt over the phone. "_Yes, those are bound to appear more and more as time goes on. Metatron has sealed Heaven to ensure that the angels can't get back in and that's cut off a good deal of reapers from being able to get in with new souls. It's only been two months and it's already starting to affect things. More and more souls are being forced to stay on Earth beyond their allotted time. As they are forced to remain, some of them may be driven to kill and cause havoc like normal restless spirits. If it goes on too much longer than things could get truly grave._"

"_Pun not intended_," Daniel said over him. "_Though if it was then he's finally getting a sense of humor._"

There was a moment of silence after that. Donavan couldn't see over the phone but something told him that the angel was glaring at the young man.

"_That's why it's imperative that we succeed in our mission here,_" Jedediah continued. "_It's already November which gives us less than a year left._"

"Some of those spirits might not have that long," Donavan said.

"_What do you mean?_" Jedediah asked.

"I just received a call on the scene of the murder. I think that the Winchesters broke into the apartment to try and summon the spirit to do their hunt because we ran into each other and I threatened to have them locked up if they remained so they had to sneak in. Something must've happened because the apartment smelled of sulfur."

"_Sulfur? You think demons came around?_" asked Daniel.

"I think so. Something broke into the apartment through the window and the window is nine stories high with no fire escape close to it."

"_Well, maybe the Winchesters handled it._" Daniel suggested.

"No, there wasn't any bodies left behind. It was confusing so that's why I called."

"_Jedediah?_" said Daniel. "_What do you think about all of this?"_

"_If demons are involved then they must be after the soul of that ghost_."

"_Why would demons want with the soul of a stray ghost?"_ asked Daniel.

"_A soul that was meant for Heaven. That might make them of interest for them. I'm not sure exactly what they have planned but that must be a key reason._"

"I'll see to what I could do then," said Donavan.

"_No!_" Jedediah all but roared into the phone. "_Donavan you've no experience with fighting demon without angelic assistance. Don't worry, you've done well enough. This is a matter for the Powers now. I'll send a message to the Pavilion and Nazareth and Ezekiel can handle it._"

Donavan hung up the phone with a shake of his head. He knew that there was no way that Nazareth or Ezekiel would show up in time. They were across the country and it would take over a day to catch up. The demons might have moved on by the time they could be tracked down. Not to mention the Winchesters were already here and could track the demons and cut out the Battalion and Powers' chances of learning what it was that the demons were up to with all of this.

Donvan's eyes lit up after that thought. "The Winchesters," he mumbled.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean had rushed back to their motel room after that excitement in the apartment. They managed to avoid being spotted by the police guarding the building.<p>

"Okay," Dean said as he got off his phone. "Some hunters told me that they were tracking about seven different hauntings that sound like ours. Many of them have been dead within the last three weeks. They see that some of the spooks have been acting out, some even hurting people but burning their bones doesn't seem to be doing anything."

"Because they aren't tying themselves here," said Sam. "They aren't restless spirits."

"That's not even the best part," he grunted. "After a while they found that the spirits are getting taken by demons, just like with Stacy. All of them. Just gone."

"What the hell would demons want with ghosts?"

"I don't know why but I do know it can't be good."

"We have to find out what's happening. Remember the last few times we found demons doing something like this, taking people or spirits. Later we found out it was collecting prophets for the Demon Tablet and reapers for a seal. But these demons are in the wind now. No way to track them down."

"Yeah," Dean nodded before a look came over him. "But I think I know how we can pick up their trail."

"How?" asked Sam.

* * *

><p>Over in the Garlands home, Scott was letting himself float about. It was prime in the afternoon and his family was out and about trying to get themselves to go back to their respective schedules of school and work. Scott was happy that they were trying to go back to normal despite everything going on. Yet, he was finding this new silence and seclusion to be kind of dull and dragging. He was starting to see how ghosts could end up going crazy after a while. Months and years of this would certainly drive anyone to be crazy and lash out at anything and anyone. He was hoping that he would be able to have someone free to take him to Heaven soon.<p>

He was staring into space when he saw that a few of the lights were starting to flicker slightly and the light coming into the house was getting darker. Scott was alert and stood in the center of the family room until he saw pure darkness press against the windows. One of them blew in and dark smoke poured in and headed off for him. Scott backed up a bit as the smoke charged closer. Suddenly, the smoke stopped in its tracks like it hit an invisible wall. The smoke dissipated and there was a gruff looking man now there in its place.

"What the hell?" he spat as he tried to push forward towards the ghost.

He then stopped and slowly turned his gaze up to the ceiling where there was a Devil's Trap painted on there. There was soon the sound of shoes tapping against the hard wood of the floor. Both the ghost and the demon turned to see Dean and Sam step out from around the corner.

The demon growled. "Winchesters."

"That's us," Dean said with a smug smile. He then looked over at Scott. "Thanks for the assist."

"Sure," Scott nodded.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean had used a set of demon binding handcuffs from their dungeon to trap the demon and threw him in their warded trunk as they drove him to a condemned building where they put him into a devil's trap. Dean splashed a bit of holy water at his face that had him scream as it burned him.<p>

"Now," he said putting his flask down. "Do you want to start talking or do we have to take this up another notch."

"Screw you Winchester."

Dean looked over at Sam showing his annoyance. Sam mirrored it as he handed Dean a container of salt that Dean took before he yanked the demon's head up and started pouring it in his mouth. The demon screamed as his insides burned and spat out a thick mix of blood and salt.

"Keep it up and next is we wash that mouth off."

Sam took a handful of salt and threw some at the demon's face burning him even more. Dean then took the knife and drove it right into the demon's left shoulder blade.

"Yeah, maybe we should wash that off Dean." Sam then handed his brother some more holy water.

"Alright!" the demon finally cried out. "I'll talk!" The demon took a few seconds to get his bearings together. "I'm working for Abaddon. She sent me and two other guys to collect some of these stuck ghosts for her."

Abaddon? Why would she want ghosts?

Sam asked. "Why the hell would Abaddon want with some ghosts?"

"For their souls," answered the demon. "Their Heaven bound souls. Those kind of souls are the easiest and quickest to twist into demons. She wants to find some fast new recruits."

"Recruits?" said Dean. "Recruits for what?"

The demon broke into a small breathless laugh. "Her army you dimwitted jackass. She needs more troops for the war."

"Wait, war?" said Sam.

"With Crowley."

"Yeah, well I don't think she needs too much when Crowley our POW," said Dean.

"Doesn't matter. He still has a hell of a lot of followers. Not to mention those new do-gooder humans that are appearing."

Dean and Sam shared a look. They had a weird feeling about that.

"What humans?" Dean asked.

The demon's eyes went black as he smirked at them. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Dean breathed out through his nose before he took another bit of holy water and threw it at the demon's face. He then took the knife and starting cutting into the demon's leg.

"No, I don't. What I do want to know is where the hell are you keeping those souls you took."

* * *

><p>Agent Donavan had saved the tracking code that he had put with the tracker he inserted in the Winchesters' car and had cloned the tracker so he could follow the car to wherever they were going. He saw that they were heading to some out of the way area in the Pocono Mountain region and checked the area for nearby areas suffering both radio wave distortion coupled with cold spots and electric disturbance like he had been trained to for identifying spirits and demons. He saw that the area was lighting like a Christmas tree.<p>

He was a little nervous about this. It wasn't his first confrontation with a demon but it would be his first one completely on his own. The last time he had met a demon without angels or more experienced Battalion members was when he first encountered Sam and Dean but they had stopped it themselves. This time, he would have to deal with the demons and the Winchesters. Not to mention that Jedediah had told him not to and he was disobeying a direct order from one of the Powers. Needless to say, he was as nervous and scared as hell. Yet, he made commitments and he will honor them. Besides, he joined the bureau to protect people and he joined the Battalion to continue that.

"You can do this," he whispered to himself. "You have your protective cuff and you know the chant by heart. You can do this," he repeated as he spared a look to his shotgun armed with salt rounds and his binding wood stake.

He kept repeating it as he closed in one the Winchesters location. His driving was slow since it was dark and there was little visibility without the aid of any street lights around here. He was at least fifteen minutes away and they seemed to have stopped. Though, after a minute, the signal just vanished. It wasn't like he had heard the signal going when they seemed to be in the Bunker. The area wasn't shown without the tracer. The entire thing was lost, only static with a message in red letters saying: Signal Lost. It seems that the tracking device he planted was broken or destroyed.

* * *

><p>A demon was walking outside a gate when there was the sound of a coming off from around the corner. He went off to investigate when Sam came out and cut the demon's throat with the knife. Another demon ran for Sam and he fought him off and kicked him to the ground where he plunged the knife into his chest. He then went a bit aways and waved his hand for his brother to come forward.<p>

Dean drove the Impala and stopped it just outside to the old mining facility's front gate that the demon told them about. It was recently shut down and the demons were keeping the spirits they were rounding up in there. Sam and Dean got all their weapons out from the trunk.

"Good plan," said Dean as he loaded his shotgun.

"Well, when those guys noticed that one of their delivery boys was missing they were bound to be on the lookout."

They opened the gate and carefully strode in keeping to the shadows. The facility might be abandoned but there was still power here. There were a few lights on in the small office building outside the mining complex. They could make out a demon standing guard outside the door. Sam and Dean made to move for sneaking around to take the demon by surprise when the lights in the building and out started to flicker. Loud screaming was spilling out of that building and not just from one voice.

"What the hell is happening is there?" Sam said as they ducked back into the dark.

Dean flinched a bit. Those screams brought out distant memories for him during his time in the pit. Sounds that he remembered helping to cause. "Sounds like Hell."

Those spirits must be getting tortured by the demons holding them. The ghosts must be letting out their agony out with no control which explained why everything was going nuts out here. Even a few electrical things further away from the building were starting to flicker on and off. They also started to feel a little bit of a chill that froze this already frigid air. But then Sam and Dean flinched when the sound of the Impala's car alarm sounded off. The spirits must've been really put through their paces to make things go crazy that far from the building. They looked back to see the car's headlights were lighting the gate as they turned on and off.

"Damn it," Dean growled as the demon guard ran off to see what was happening.

Dean ran out of their hiding spot to sock the demon in the face with butt of his gun when the demon got close enough. Sam pulled out his gun and shot another demon closing in with a salt round. Dean brought out the knife and struck the demon he hit down before he launched the knife at the one Sam shot as it tried to get back up and got it in between the eyes.

Their advantage of surprise was gone so now they were charging in. Sam and Dean fired on a demon that was in the hallway after they walked in the front door and started to look for where they were keeping the ghosts. A demon came up from Dean's left and grabbed his gun before he could let out a shot. Dean and the demon struggled and pushed him against the wall as they struggled against each other. Sam was going to rush and help him when he was grabbed from behind. Sam struggled and then rammed them both backwards into a door that broke off from its hinges and they both fell. Sam twisted around the punch the demon when more hands grabbed at him. Dean headbutted the demon in the face before he pushed at him to make it lose the grip on his gun before he shot at it. He turned to check on Sam when he drew his gun at two demons that were holding their brother at knifepoint.

"Drop the gun," one of them ordered. "Or your brother spills his guts."

Any other time, he would've put down the demon's attempt to be witty but not with the sight of Sam being threatened like this.

"Now!" the demon holding the knife said bringing his blade into Sam skin showing a little bit of blood.

Dean glared harder at the demons but threw the gun down at their feet. The next thing the two of them knew was them being handcuffed together at a radiator pole. The room was big and spacious but not really carrying much of anything which seemed to make the room bigger. There were a few tables carrying some kind of equipment random items like paint cans or dusty binders. Their guns and the knife was taken and put on a small table on the opposite end of the room well away from their reach. There was a man standing in a spot of the room. He was pale and not looking too good. He wasn't bound or tied in anyway but he was standing inside a kind of symbol drawn into the floor. Sam and Dean stared at him before they saw him flicker a bit as he was breathing heavily. He was one of the ghosts.

One of the demons came back into the room and walked up to that spirit. "Comfy?" he asked as approached.

The ghost's face went into a paler and grotesque looking perversion as he flickered out and slammed against some kind of invisible wall. The symbol he was standing on glowed furiously as the spirit fell onto his back. The demon opened his mouth as he smoked out and went into the circle where the ghost man started screaming and thrashing around. The lights flickered and the brothers felt a strong rush of cold, frigid air being expelled.

After a few more seconds of it, the demon smoke swirled away from the ghost and back into its meatsuit. "Alright," he said when he was in full possession again. "I'm through with this one for now. Put it with the others and bring me the next one."

Suddenly, black smoke poured into the room and swept the ghost away before it flew into a closed door at the other end. The demon looked over at the two of them. He saw Dean glaring especially hard at him.

"I'm sure this brings back good old memories, doesn't it Dean? Torturing and ripping souls apart. I find it to be quite the fulfilling profession. Alistair took me under his wing too, just like he did you. I put in a lot of joyous hours of overtime. I'm sure you did also when you were Alistair's intern."

"Well, your office is better than his was," he muttered sounding nonchalant but the tension was very visible.

"Why are you using these souls? Don't you have enough downstairs?" Sam asked.

"Not like these. Souls in Hell will take too long. They're senses are dulled to make the transition as long and draining as possible. These souls, they are fatter, plumper and more sensitive to all this. The fact that they are accepted into Heaven makes them easier and quicker to use. Thanks to them turning up more and more with little protection it makes getting recruits almost too easy. Abaddon will have all the loyal troops she needs in a couple of months. Sure, doing this up here requires out of the box methods of torture but…gotta be flexible in these crazy time, am I right?" he joked to the glares of the two of them.

Soon the smoke came out again and headed for that symbol and left a ghost behind in it. Not just any ghost.

"Stacy," Sam gasped.

"Also," the demon said leering at Stacy's ghost. "These spoiled souls are the most fun to break."

Stacy looked terrified as the demon flashed his black eyes at her. "Leave me alone," she roared out.

A few stray things flew off at her outburst. Sam and Dean had to duck when a small table holding stray things flew near them.

The demon chuckled. "Hmm…a girl with some experience under her belt already. You've already started to stray. Good, you should be a quicker one to turn."

Sam noticed a small pen that must've been on that table that Stacy made crash by them. He bent down to pick up and took the ink tube out of its plastic casing. Dean saw it and they maneuvered themselves so that Dean was blocking view of Sam's hand as he tried to pick the lock of the handcuffs with it. Sam was working furiously to try and free them. They didn't want Stacy to have to go through all this on top of being driven to kill her father by being forced to stay here so long when she didn't have to.

The demon was about to smoke out to torture her when a shot was heard from outside the building. It startled the demon and even made Sam and Dean jump.

"What the hell?" he said as he made for the door.

Another demon came through the door into the room first. "We have a problem."

"What is happening?"

"It's an intruder. Another one."

The demon looked to the boys. "So, the Winchesters came with back up."

"No, but they're glad it showed up," said Dean as he wittingly smiled at the demons.

"But he won't." The demon turned to his subordinate. "Bring him in. I'll need something to relax me after I finish my work on these spooks."

He was about to do just that when the door opened and a shot went off and hit him in the chest. Sam and Dean froze when they saw that it was Agent Donavan, with a shotgun. It was loaded with salt rounds and he had hit the demon's flunkie in the chest dead center.

"Freeze!" he said pointing his gun now at the leader. "You demons are being charged for murder, kidnapping, and inhuman torturing."

Dean and Sam were actually stunned. Was Donavan being for real reciting charges to a demon as if he were another criminal to arrest? Still, foolish or not, he did draw all the attention on him and off of them. Now Sam was free to really pick at the lock without restrictions.

The demon just snorted at him. "Am I? Really? And just who are you?"

"Logan Donavan, FBI special agent and a member of Michael's Battalion." Donavan face didn't break at all. Despite the attitudes and thoughts of the demons and hunters in the room, he was still being completely serious.

Michael's Battalion? Dean and Sam have never heard of that.

"Oh, are you?" the demon said as he made a show of gasping.

"Yes," he said before cocking the shotgun. "Now, let that ghost and all those other Heaven bound souls go before you get the maximum sentence."

"Hmm, that sounds serious." The demon then snorted before he snapped his fingers.

The closed door that the demon smoke from before went through came back out through it and flew for Donavan to possess him. Donavan held out his left arm where his leather cuff was. The symbol of Michael on it glowed and the smoke seemed to hit it and there was a noise from it that sounded like a pained scream as the smoke retreated.

"The hell?" That threw the demon off. He then went for Donavan himself before Donavan dropped his gun and brought out something his back as he collided with the demon and actually forced him back. Donavan pushed him back against the nearest wall where he drove what he pulled from his back, a wooden stake, and put it through demon's shoulder.

"Nice try bastard," Donavan growled. "I'm bringing you in, or rather I'm putting you back down."

The demon cringed as he found he was stuck. He looked closer at the stake Donavan drove into his arm keeping him nailed to the wall. "Palo Santo," he growled out.

"That's right," Donavan breathed out. "And it's clear that you've made your choice for resisting. Now you get the maximum sentence."

Then Donavan stepped back and breathed. He started to chant but what Sam and Dean saw that he wasn't speaking in latin. He was chanting something in Enochian.

The demon eyes widened in actual fear at the man he spent the last few moments mocking as he struggled. "No. No!" he cried.

It was only a handful of words after that when the demon screamed as he opened his mouth and started to smoke out downward. The demon's smoke poured down into the floor where it sunk into the floor but there was a red flash and it disappeared leaving a burnt mark in the floor in a circle like something had exploded on that spot.

"All in the service of God and his true angels," Donavan mumbled. He immediately went to pull the Palo Santo stake out of the body and it slowly slid down.

"What the hell," Dean mumbled as he looked at the mark left behind.

Sam finished picking the lock and freed his hand from his handcuff which freed Dean too. Just in time as the demon that Donavan shot recovered enough to rush out at him. Donavan was grabbed at his legs and he fell face forward. Sam and Dean rushed over at the two of them to pull them apart. Sam grabbed the demon while Dean went for Donavan. Sam threw the demon off to the side of the room before he ran for the table with their things and grabbed the knife. He then stabbed the demon through the heart as he tried to get back up. Dean struggled with Donavan as he tried to pry him off. Dean grabbed at his arm but Donavan brought his leg back and kicked at Dean to force him back. As Dean was kicked his hand gripped on Donavan's leather cuff and it was ripped off. Donavan got to his feet and ran out of the room.

Dean got on his feet. "Sam, find and help those ghosts. I'm going for him."

"Dean!" Sam shouted as Dean ran out the door disregarding his protest.

They couldn't let this guy get away. As Dean ran to try and catch Donavan he noticed the bodies of those two other demons that had fought him and Sam on the ground with deep burnt marks on the floor next to them. Dean heard the sound of a car getting started and he ran straight for his car. He furiously turned the key three times to start his car before it finally started and he pulled the car away to chase after Donavan down the road. He sped down until he made out the dim light of his taillights. It looked like he would gain on him before the car started to comp out on him.

"No, what the hell?!" he yelled furiously.

The Impala came to a total stop and Dean saw the lights from Donavan's car disappearing. He tried to turn the key but the engine didn't restart. After the fourth try he cursed out loud as he hit the steering wheel furiously. It was dead. He couldn't believe this!

"Don't take it out on the car Dean. Stop being an immature child."

Dean looked up and saw that just in front of the car was Death, looking as stoic and calm as usual. He got out of the car and went over to him. "You did this?" he said pointing to his car.

"Don't worry. Your precious car will start again when I leave."

At least his car wasn't in as much danger as he had thought.

"What the hell is going on with your delivery service? Since when can't your reapers take people to Heaven or Hell where they belong?"

"Since God's ambitious secretary Metatron and your brain challenged friend Castiel decided to use that inane spell to expel the angels. Not that I particularly care what happens to those feathered brats but that spell also is affecting a good deal of my reapers. They can't enter through their usual pathways to ferry souls because they've been closed to them. As it stands only a sixth of my reapers can still squeeze their way into Heaven."

"A sixth. That has to be enough to take people up and not keep them waiting for weeks. Tell them to get off their asses and get to all these people."

Death narrowed his eyes on him. "If I were you Dean I wouldn't do or say anything to displease me any more than you already have." He didn't shout at Dean. His tone was calm and quiet as always but that made Dean freeze up. "This is always your problem Dean. You never think beyond you and your brother. Do you realize just how many people die on a slow work day? Roughly 150,000 a day. Only one sixth of my employees now have access and they can't get to everyone and over time the buildup increases."

"Well then why don't use your all access pass to undo what Metatron did?"

"Even I have my own jurisdictions. Those tablets that you have stowed away have spells and rituals that even I can't undo. Why do you think they were sealed away?"

"Then tell me how to fix it and I'll see that the doors are all open again."

"No." Death said simply. "It's not your concern."

"To Hell it isn't." Dean barked.

"Don't tempt me," said Death cutting off Dean's incoming rant.

Dean forced himself to calm himself down. "You just said that you couldn't undo the spell. Sam and I can."

"Well, perhaps you can but you won't be. I have someone else on it."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Someone else?"

"Yes. You seem almost disappointed. If I recall, you once told me that I should find someone better to "tip off", remember? Well, I decided to actually take that advice and found someone better."

Better? Dean didn't know whether he should be relieved or insulted. "Who?"

"Somebody who will actually clean up messes without making more. A much more respectable and responsible young man that I believe I can actually depend on to not cause me nothing but grief."

"Grief? I helped you break free from Lucifer and killed Dick Roman."

"Yes and you tried to blackmail me to bring back your brother, bound me to kill that angel when he bit off more than he could chew," he countered. "But…the most aggravating grievance you've given me was the most recent one. Saving your brother."

"What are you talking about?"

"Did I or did I not tell you when I brought your brother's soul back that I would make the exception just ONCE," he emphasized. "Not only were you arrogant to interfere but you did so when I was personally involved. Now, I am done fooling around with you Dean."

Dean wasn't going to try and defend himself there. He didn't regret his decision for a moment.

Death gave him a small smirk. "Oh…you will."

Dean huffed at how Death had clearly read his mind. "So, who's your new cleaning boy?"

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you that?"

"Well, you did come here to brag about him to me."

"Oh, I didn't come to brag or even to satisfy your petty curiosity. I came to threaten you."

"Threaten me?"

"Yes Dean. You and Sam. You believe that its wise and fruitful to insult and anger me. Well, it's time to remind you just who it is that I am. First off, let me tell you now that now you two are marked. If either of you two die again then I will take it upon myself to bind you both away in death forever. If anyone tries to undo it then I'll strike them down before they could start."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"I'm not done," he cut in with a quick and low toned voice. "I have a separate warning for you, Sam and for that trench coat wearing fool friend of yours as well. My new prospect and his brother, if you Dean do anything that endangers or ends their lives."

"You'll kill me?" he guessed on top of wondering who this 'new guy' even was or why Death would care about his brother too.

"No. I'll kill Sam."

Dean had to have heard wrong. "What?"

"It seems that you Winchesters never seem to have much store with your own lives but that's not the case with each other's. Things are bad enough and I don't need you three to mess them up more than they are and this seemed to be the best way. You kill or arrange the death of my new golden goose or his brother than I will take Sam and drop him back into Lucifer's cage where I plucked him from."

"No, you can't do that!"

"Oh, yes I can. That being said, if Sam takes it upon himself to kill either of them then YOU," he said pointing to Dean. "will die and I'll yank you right into Purgatory. If I'm in a good mood I won't drop you in a nest full of Leviathans. And this time, don't count on any portals to free you. If you get lucky enough to slither out I'll simply drop you right back in."

The memories of Purgatory came rushing back at him Dean wanted to protest but Death wasn't finished.

"And as for Castiel, if he kills either of them for you two then I'll simply have both you and Sam taken away. Do you understand now Dean? The time for your games is over. It's time for you to grow up and accept the full consequences of your actions, all of them."

"Wait, who are they?"

"Wouldn't you like to know. I'll leave it for you to find out who they are. Maybe that'll teach you to think before you leap, finally." He then started to walk past him. "Now, since I'm here, I might as well take all those souls back at the mining office to Heaven at once."

Dean's eyes widened when Death disappeared. As soon as he did, the Impala's lights came back on and the engine roared back to life. Dean got in and drove all the way back to the mine's office building where he left Sam. Sam said that the souls were being kept in a room full of crazy symbols painted everywhere but he broke them to let them all free and suddenly they all vanished at once. Sam did provide some good news as he held up the leather cuff that Dean ripped off Donavan's wrist.

Good, because Dean had nothing but bad news to share.

* * *

><p>Agent Donavan's head was slightly bowed as he was being stared down by Ezekiel and a few other angels. They had arrived in a motel of the town closest to the mining facility. Ezekiel had his arms folded as he stared at Donavan with a stern expression on his face.<p>

"Logan, if I'm not mistaken Jedediah ordered you to stay away from the demons. He told me that he ordered you to stay away and let us handle it. Instead you take it upon yourself to confront the demons taking the Heaven bound souls as well as the Winchesters."

"I'm sorry about that Ezekiel but I knew that you and your men would never arrive in time. You don't have wings anymore so you can't respond as quickly as you have before. I feared that the either the demons would get away or the Winchesters would wipe away all traces of what has happened so we couldn't find out what was happening."

"Well then, what was happening?"

"I…I don't know," Donavan answered as he cringed at how pathetic he just sounded. "Honestly, I didn't recognize a lot of what seemed to be going on."

"But you did get a good look?" Ezekiel asked and Donavan nodded. "Very well then. Come here."

Donavan stepped up to Ezekiel as he put his hands to either side of his temples and stared into Donavan's eyes. Donavan felt the images of what happened at the mine flash back through his mind in flashes and when Ezekiel let go of his head he nearly fell down as the rush of it pressed on his head.

"Wow," he gasped out. "That sucked."

"The feeling will pass in a few minutes," Ezekiel said. "But it did help. I saw the plan that they had."

"What was it?" Donavan asked.

"That is beyond your concern Agent Donavan. What is your present concern is that you defied a direct order from a member of the Powers."

Donavan cringed and it wasn't from the strain on his brain. "I know. And I know that this doesn't do me any favors to admit but I also lost my Battalion protection band. There is a chance that Sam and Dean Winchester now have it. And…it seems as if the tracker I planted in their car was destroyed or shorted out thanks to all the ghosts' energies."

Ezekiel shook his head. "No, that doesn't improve your situation in the slightest."

"I know. I'm prepared for your punishment."

Donavan braced himself when Ezekiel touched his head expecting some degree of pain or maybe even death. He read enough of the Bible to know what happens to those that fail in their holy duties. He was surprised when Ezekiel raised his head to look back at him.

"Jedediah did also say that I should expect that you did disobey him. Daniel told him that you would and asked that we be easy on you."

"I…just wanted to prove my worth as a warrior in Michael's Battalion. That I can handle myself out in the field without having to hinder you and your brothers to protect me. For me being a human that can have your faith and not be seen as a hindrance."

"No, with my time spent here I am beginning to understand you humans. You are always reluctant to listen to instructions because of your stubbornness. I'm glad to see that it can be for our sakes instead of against it for a change. Not only did you imprison three demons but you held your own out there on your own. That is quite a feat for someone as new to the Supernatural as you Logan Donavan. Therefore…no punishment. But," he said sternly before Donavan could let the relief sink in. "Repeat this sort of stunt again and we won't be so lenient. Learn to show restraint as well as commitment or face eviction from the Battalion or worse. Understood?"

He nodded. "Perfectly. Thank you Ezekiel."

"Dismissed."

Donavan excused himself and left the motel room and Ezekiel turned to his fellow angels.

"Get the car ready. We need to sweep the mines where those demons were nesting. And contact Nazareth and Joseph. Inform them that Abaddon and Crowley's armies are bringing their war into Heaven. They are trying to use Heaven's stranded souls to build an army."

"Yes sir."

Ezekiel prayed that Daniel found what they needed soon. They had to undo the damage that Metatron had done to Heaven and they would need their leader to do so.

* * *

><p>Sam and Dean went back to the Garlands place and told Scott that he couldn't stay with his family anymore or he would put them in danger from more demons that might come after him. They advised him to keep moving around and never stay in one place for more than half a day. Hopefully that would keep the demons off him until a reaper was free to take him back up. He was saying goodbye to his family and it seemed like they were handling it easier than their first one.<p>

Dean had told Sam about Death visiting him and the threats too but when Sam asked why was Death so angry with them, Dean just said.

"He doesn't think we can do anything for him anymore. He says that he done with us being useless. So he traded up."

He couldn't tell Sam about pulling him away from Death those two months ago. At least until 'Nathaniel' was done healing him enough for him to be safe. Especially with his threat that if either of them die again, it will be for keeps. He didn't tell Sam about that either. They had enough to deal with. Like, just who was this new guy that Death had talked about?

Sam's mind was thankfully preoccupied on the leather cuff from Donavan. He was turning it around in his hand and looking at all the symbols carved on the inside. Whatever this thing was, or this Battalion is, its cooking up guys who can fight demons in ways they haven't seen before.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 14<strong>

A/N: Nothing like an appearance from Death to make the future look grim (pun intended). So Dean can see he's screwed with Death one time too many and now he is going to pay for it. Death may have his funny moments but he is an unforgiving and cold son of a bitch. Want proof, check out the Final Destination movies.

The next chapter will be called Life on the Lamb. Castiel has gone off to try and learn of the status of the angels when he stumbles across a rogue angel that he was close to once before the Apocalypse.


	15. Life on the Lamb

Chapter 15: Life on the Lamb

Castiel was standing outside a barn underneath the clear night sky for a good hour before he sucked it up and walked on in. He was a little surprised to see that all the marks and sigils painted on so long ago were still decorating the walls. He didn't know if he was happy or not about that. This was the place he had formally met Dean Winchester. Memories of that night played in his mind. Back then he was sure of everything and content with who he was. Things seemed so easier and simple back then. It was before all the pain and confusion became such a part of his existence. Before suffering death, betrayal, destruction and before he delivered quite a bit of it himself.

He didn't know exactly why he wanted to come here but he felt that he should start here. He didn't know what to expect by doing it but it seemed like a vital step was checked off. He stepped outside to the cold air of the night where he had parked his car just outside. It was a clear night and he wished that his course could be just as clear. He just started the car and drove off in a random direction.

* * *

><p><strong>Supernatural<strong>

* * *

><p>It had been three weeks since they had fought the demons and helped save those innocent souls from being converted into demons. Sam and Dean were in a motel in a small town in Montana doing two very different things. Dean was sitting at the table that was covered with crime scene photos of mauled people while Sam was sitting on his bed with their laptop. There were a few murders in the area that looked like they might be vampire kills. Dean was happy to be working a simple case for once as it felt like it had been ages since they had one due to all these fallen angels and demon war nonsense.<p>

Sam suddenly just shut the laptop and frantically ran his hands across his closed eyes. Dean looked up from his collage.

"What's up Sam?"

"I've searched and browsed my eyes off and I can't find anything about the Battalion that we heard Agent Donavan talk about. I know it was a long shot but I even called and e-mailed about twenty different theology experts and they all say that they've never heard of Michael's Battalion."

"Shocker," Dean mumbled. "What about our little souvenir?"

"I've had better luck on that." Sam bent over and went to pick up the leather cuff that they had swiped from Agent Donavan. "The writing carved into this thing is definitely enochian, a little bit arcane though. The bit of the enochian that I could understand seem to be prayers that are meant to fend off demonic possession and aid in the subjugation of demons."

Their minds flashed back to that night they saw Donavan in action. How the black demon smoke seemed to stop in its tracks and retreat from him and how he was able to push that demon back long enough to drive that Palo Santo stake into him.

"Sounds like a handy tool to have up your sleeve or on your wrist I guess," said Dean a bit approvingly. "I might not like how shady these guys sound but it looks like they have some pretty nice toys. Same thing with that exorcism Donavan used. It was enochian, short and quick and actually seemed real this time." He remembered the fake one that the Whore of Babylon had given to that small town to trick them.

"Yeah and who knows what else these can do," he said as he threw the cuff over to his brother who caught it.

Dean turned the cuff in his hand before he started to run his fingers over the Michael's symbol on the outside. "Hey Sam," he said slowly. "Maybe we should think about leaving these Battalion guys alone."

Sam was thrown off by that. "You mean ignore them? Why?"

"Other than the fact that they have government and federal connections on their side? Well, if they are fighting demons then should we really bother them? If it means more of those son of bitches getting pulled back down then I say the more the merrier."

"Yeah but Dean, what about the Powers? We know that they are connected with the Battalion and Cas told us that they're bad news. Who knows what they are planning to do? With the rest of the angels or with the people in the Battalion. For all we know, it could be something that gets these people hurt or worse."

"But we don't know that for sure," Dean pointed out. "I'll admit that Donavan was a bit of a dick but he did help us stop those demons. And we saw those other guys after they killed that bitch of an angel driving people to go psycho killer."

"Yeah but who knows what they're really about Dean? What's with you anyway? Why the sudden need to look the other way? You were all about finding these guys last month."

While Dean had told Sam about Death's visit and what he told him about what he said about the trouble the reapers were having and of choosing someone else to undo Metatron's work, he hadn't told him of Death's threat. If they kept looking into the Battalion or even the Powers then it might lead them to this new guy and his brother. Death told him what would happen if they did anything to these two and since they don't know just who they are and were forced to do anything then he or Sam would die instantly and head to Purgatory and Lucifer's Cage. For all he knew Agent Donavan was one of them and if Death hadn't shown up then he might've doomed Sam if things had gone too far. If they stayed away then there was no chance that they would ever meet these people. He didn't want to tell Sam because he knew that he wouldn't want to let Death bully them to do their job. Besides, Dean knew that if Death was bending over backwards to threaten them and protect these guys then it must be big. And he didn't want to run the risk of pissing him off more right now.

"I just think we have enough to deal with. Like Abaddon building an army and Cain out and free. Not to mention those caged angels that made parole. We know those guys are trouble, do we really have time to deal with what ifs?"

Sam thought on it for a bit before he shrugged. "I guess not."

"Okay. Now let's find us the nest of vamps snacking on this town and lop some heads off."

Dean didn't know that Sam had only become more determined. It was clear to him that Dean was hiding something from him for a while now and it felt tied to the Powers and the Battalion. His brother actually sounded scared to confront them and he could count on his hands the number of times that Dean was generally scared in his whole life. Besides, something was going on with all these people and the angels and Sam wanted to know what that was.

* * *

><p>Castiel didn't know why but he went to an old condemned factory in Missouri that had served as a meeting point for his old garrison. It was near noon so there was a good amount of sunlight leaking in from the windows up above which brought a decent amount of light to this wide but empty space. The last time he was here was before he and his fellow soldiers had captured Alistair when he was trying to break a seal by killing reapers. Honestly, he didn't know why he was spending his time going to these kind of places. He visited the barn of his first meeting with Dean over a week ago and now he was here at this dusty old factory. This wouldn't help him. What was he even doing?<p>

That sentiment was apparently shared. "What are you doing?"

"Hello?" Castiel said as he looked around for the owner of the voice.

Behind Castiel, to his left, there were the echo of footsteps. "I believe you are trespassing."

Castiel turned to see a man there in a simple gray suit and he had glasses and slightly floppy hair. He was looking at Castiel with some contempt.

"I'm sorry? What?" he asked sounding at a loss.

"Are you brain dead? This is private property. You shouldn't be here," he said coming closer to him.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that. I'll be leaving now." Castiel didn't need to find himself in trouble with other humans right now. He had enough troubles to contend with then adding things like their legal systems into the mix.

The man held up his hand though when Castiel came into a patch of clear sunlight to show his whole face. "Castiel?" the man said sounding a little uncertain. "Is that you?"

Castiel froze. "What?"

"Is that you?" the man said again. "It's your vessel but…I don't see any grace."

Castiel narrowed his eyes at him. Without his grace, he couldn't tell who this was but it was an angel that he had met before with this vessel. "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" he said sounding surprised.

"I've lost my grace. I can't see who you really are."

"You've lost your grace?" The man pouted his lips as he stepped back to take a look at him. Then…he started to laugh.

* * *

><p>Kevin decided to let himself wander the Bunker to try and deal with all this new pent up aggression that he had with staying here so long. Sam and Dean had been gone for over three weeks and even Castiel was gone without a trace. Kevin was finding himself feeling like he was the only guy left in the world nowadays.<p>

He let himself wander what looked like the Bunker's electric room. He saw that there was a giant antique computer that was apparently running.

"Wow…prehistoric technology," he said in full admiration of the machine.

This thing would fetch a small fortune from the right museum especially one that was in full working order. He wandered about in the room where he saw a giant bookshelf in the corner that didn't have books. He saw that there were quite a few other items displayed on the shelves that looked like personal touches left behind by the Men of Letters a lifetime ago. He saw a glass case with a silver knife in it, what looked like a Native American dream catcher, a jeweled hourglass and some other interesting stuff. Kevin also saw a black and white picture of a Pope. He picked it up to get a closer look but he didn't think he recognized which one it was. He was going to put it back when he noticed what looked like a small black button at the back of the shelf that the picture frame had been concealing. Kevin wondered what it was so he pushed it before reason could convince him not to. When he did, he felt something graze his foot and saw that a compartment opened up at the bottom of the shelf by his foot. Kevin bent down to see that it was a dusty metal key box. Engraved on the front of it was the symbol that Castiel had told them was for the Archangel Michael. He tried to pull it open but it was sealed shut. He looked the compartment up and down but didn't see any sign of a key.

He took the box and brought it to his room when he finished looking through the room for any other secret switches or hidden spaces that might have the key. He wondered what could be in the box that was hidden in a secret compartment of a secret bunker. What could be inside? An old book? An angelic weapon? A demonic weapon? Kevin would hardly be surprised at this point. He had a feeling that Sam and Dean would want to see it as soon as they came back; whenever that was. The excitement from the discovery faded and Kevin was soon back in his slump again.

"Ah, screw it."

Kevin knew that Sam and Dean were halfway across the country and wouldn't be back for a while. He had to get out of here, if only for a while. He had been dying to drive one of those cars in the garage. Maybe he'll catch a movie.

* * *

><p>Castiel looked at his new company feeling slighted with how he was laughing at him with youthful abandon.<p>

"Castiel," he said as he looked him up and down and laughed a little like he was a clown or something. "The mighty Castiel, reduced to a mere human like the two mud monkeys he betrayed all of Heaven for. It's almost too good," he laughed out.

Castiel was now glaring hard at the angel. "Who are you?!"

The angel forced himself to settle down but he was still smirking at him. "It's me Castiel. Azrael."

"Azrael?" Castiel looked the angel up and down. Azrael had been a part of his garrison, until he was imprisoned in Heaven's dungeons for conspiracy against Heaven. He was now one of the renegades. "That's not the vessel you had before."

"No, sadly I couldn't keep it when I was locked up," he said spitefully. "How long has it been since you and the others captured me and helped throw me in the dungeons, over five years right?"

Castiel glared at him. "You joined in on Uriel's movement to free Lucifer and wanted to destroy Humanity; what did you expect me and the others to do Azrael?"

"That's rich coming from you Castiel. You did the same thing I did."

"No I didn't."

"Really? I conspired against our leaders and ended up locked away and hated for it. You conspired against our leaders and you were treated as a hero. Tell me, how is that fair?"

"You wanted to help Lucifer rule the world and destroy humanity," Castiel snapped back at him. "I didn't."

"Really? I've heard things in my cell about you Castiel. How you went and started a new civil war in Heaven. How you opened Purgatory and used it's supply of souls to become "The New God" and slaughtered thousands of our brothers and hundreds of humans to shape the world how you wanted. That makes what you did far worse then what I did in choosing to join Uriel. Hell, it even trumps Lucifer in some spots." He looked Castiel up and down again. "A human now. You know, one biblical version of Lucifer says that for his crimes he was stripped of his grace and was sentenced to walk the Earth as a human. Obviously that's wrong but maybe it was foretelling your fate Castiel."

Castiel closed his eyes as he breathed in hard to quell the wave of feelings that Azrael's words stirred within him. "I made a few mistakes, I'm not going to deny that." he said slowly. "But I'm trying to make up for them now."

"You're off to a great start then," Azrael said not letting up. "Helping Metatron eject all of us from Heaven to the Earth."

"He tricked me and robbed me of my grace to do it," he said trying to explain.

"Oh," Azrael laughed again. "I'm not complaining about that. Thanks to you I'm free again. Well, all of us are free. All 13 of us."

Castiel's eyes widened. "All of you that were imprisoned?" Azrael was the latest of the angels to be placed in Heaven's dungeons but he wasn't the worst.

"Yes," answered Azrael with a smile. But then his smile faded. "Though it hasn't been as liberating as I imagined my freedom from my cell would be. I've had some angels on my trail for the last month. I guess they want to take their aggression out on me."

Castiel glared at him. "You can't say you don't have it coming."

"Maybe, but you're going to save me Castiel." He then withdrew his blade and pointed it at him. "They are going to catch up to me soon and when they do, I'll give them someone they'll want a lot more than myself in exchange for being left alone. Torturing and tormenting you will matter to them a lot more than me."

Castiel tried to run but Azrael took off after him. Castiel ran out of the factory and tried to get to his car but before he could get the door open all the way Azrael grabbed him from the back of his neck and threw him to the ground. Castiel tried to crawl away but Azrael stalked after him like a lion after a wounded gazelle. Castiel kicked at Azrael to get him to release him when he grabbed his foot but Azrael kept a firm grip. Castiel then went and tried to grab at Azrael's blade and caused him to lose his balance and fall. They began to fight for control of the blade and rolled around right there on the ground.

"You've grown rusty Azrael," Castiel said pushing at his face.

Azrael countered him by punching him in the face. With him a lot weaker, the punch forced him to let go of Azrael's arm. Azrael backed away a little to get himself back to his feet when there was the sound of tires digging into gravel. Castiel looked up to see two cars pull in on the factory's grounds and come to a stop a short distance from them. People came out of both cars and went for them. They all pulled out angel blades.

"Hold it right there," one of them said.

Azrael held his hands up in surrender. "Now wait. I want to talk to you."

"We don't talk with rogues," said another. "Seize him," she cried to the others.

"No wait," Azrael started before he was grabbed by two of them. "I have someone for you. Castiel. I have Castiel."

They all froze as they took a better look at the one Azrael was looking at.

"Take him instead. I'm sure he means more to you than me."

The first angel looked from Castiel to Azrael and then to the others. "Take them both," he ordered.

Castiel was then grabbed and thrown in the back of one of the cars. Azrael was taken to the other one and both of the cars pulled out and headed for the main road.

* * *

><p>Kevin drove the car into Lebanon where he went to local multi-movie theatre and he looked through the listings and found a good action movie. One that didn't have one supernatural element to it. He didn't need that on his break. Being here in this place brought back some memories of Saturday nights with Channing between hard assignments. She had loved watching movies on big screens. He smiled at the memories of her jumping in her seat during scary moments or snuggling closer to him during sweet love scenes. All that seemed like it was a lifetime ago. He couldn't help but think that if only he hadn't been the prophet chosen then he would be enjoying Winter Break from Princeton with Channing and his mother. His smile was wiped away as the memories of their smiling faces flashed behind his eyes.<p>

He went on line for the concession stand where he had just enough to buy lemonade and gummy bears. He walked in the still bright movie room and took in everything about the people there. He saw that there were quite a few people that looked around his age already seated. They were just enjoying their own Saturday nights with their dates and friends and he wished that he could be as well. As far as he could tell Kevin looked like he was the only one that seemed to be alone. As he climbed the steps he saw that there was at least one other guy that was alone. He was sitting at the seat close to the walkway and had a drink in the seat's coaster. The guy was holding a bag of popcorn that he was already picking at as he waited. He looked maybe a few years older than him and he noticed that he was wearing a college ring on his left hand.

He didn't see too many available seats close by and some could only be gotten to by climbing over at least six or seven people and Kevin wasn't in the mood for that. He noticed that this guy had two seats empty right next to him.

"Are these taken?" he asked hoping the answer was no.

It was.

"No. You want to sit?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind it."

The guy got to his feet to make room for him to move in. "Be my guest."

Kevin slid in and took his seat. "Thanks."

"No problem," the guy said as he sat back down. "So, you're stuck on your own on a Saturday night huh?"

"You could say that," he mumbled.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "And what about you?" Kevin asked as he opened his gummy bears.

"Yeah. Everyone I know is busy working or didn't feel like watching a movie. Let's just say that the people I'm always around rarely have time for such things. Don't get me wrong, I love em' but they can be a little too committed sometimes. I'm only human and we need some down time from time to time."

Kevin snorted. He knew where this guy was coming from alright. Dean and Sam were cool guys deep down but they had all of this business with the tablets and Heaven and Hell too much on the outside. Kevin has only known about this stuff for two years when being a prophet was shoved on him and he needed some time where he wasn't reminded of any of this supernatural stuff every other hour.

The room began getting dark which signaled the start of the movie and Kevin and this guy shared some small talk in between dragging scenes. It was meaningless things like other movies they had seen the actors in or the work that a certain scene must've gone through but had full meaning for him. For the first time in two years, Kevin Tran actually felt calm and happy.

When the movie was done they walked out into the main hall of the cinema. Kevin watched as the guy he sat with stretched when they were out. The windows showed that it had gone completely dark while they were inside.

"It was great talking with ya," he said when he straightened himself.

"Yeah," Kevin smiled at him before he extended his hand. "I'm Kevin."

He went to return his handshake. "I'm Daniel but my friends call me Danny."

"Daniel?"

At the name, Kevin smile dropped slightly. He looked down at Daniel's hand that had his to see that there was a leather cuff peeking out from his jacket sleeve. There was the symbol of Michael that Dean drew and that he had found in that key box in the Bunker. He then looked up at Daniel's face that was looking at him a little confused.

"Something wrong Kevin?" Kevin let go of his hand and slowly backed away with some shock showing on him. Daniel looked confused until he saw that his cuff was peeking out and fixed his sleeve and it hit him. "You recognize my cuff, don't you?"

"Leave me alone," he warned.

Daniel narrowed his eyes for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. "Kevin," he said slowly. "You're Kevin Tran. Aren't you?"

This guy knew who he was and now Kevin knew he was in bigger trouble. "Stay back," he said backing away a bit. He felt in his jacket for the switchblade that Dean gave him to carry with him for protection.

"What do you think I'm going to do to you?" Daniel said bringing his hands out. "Do you see me doing anything? I'm not going to hurt you. If I was I would've done it by now."

"What are you doing here then?" he said in an accusing tone.

"Well I did come here to see a movie. Then I was thinking about finding a good place to eat. I know that I didn't get filled up with a bag of popcorn. Why don't you join me and we could talk?"

"Why would I want to talk with you? I know who you are."

"Really? I find that hard to believe since you didn't even know my name until a minute ago."

"Sam and Dean mentioned you. Are you one of the Powers?"

Daniel let out a small laugh. "No. I'm just as human as you. I'm a member of Michael's Battalion."

"Michael's Battalion? What the hell is that?"

"Why don't we grab a bite to eat and we can talk all about it? My treat."

Kevin didn't know what to think about this. Before he found out who he was he seemed like a decent guy but it could be just an act. He could be letting himself fall for a trap. On the other hand, he might be able to find out some answers to what was going on. And…he had to admit that he was a little hungry and he was out of money.

"Fine."

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 15<strong>

A/N: I have a new picture on my profile for the one portraying the renegade angel Azrael. I remembered Uriel telling Castiel that he managed to convince others to join him but we never really saw what came of it. I thought that Azrael was a good way to make it come full circle.

The next part has Castiel and Azrael face imprisonment and torture under the faction that has captured them. Also, Kevin and Daniel have a heart to heart.


	16. Life on the Lamb part 2

Chapter 16: Life on the Lamb part two

Daniel had to admit that this night was not going as he had planned it to go. Over three weeks in this place and they had not found a solid clue about where the Bunker's exact location was and here the prophet went and came to sit with him at a movie theatre when he decided to have a personal night. It had to be meant to be. Kevin was driving them around the city at random. It was as if he was trying to shake off a pursuer that they didn't have. Daniel also saw that he was looking back and around to see if they were being followed. He thought the paranoia was a little ridiculous but with his experience in the last two years, he understood the need for it. He felt a little sorry for the guy.

Daniel said he was in the mood for pasta so they Kevin drove them to this fancy looking Italian restaurant that he caught sight of.

"Fancy choice," he said when he parked the car.

"You said that you were paying and since I chose it I know that there won't be any of the angels that you're with in there."

"I'm only with one angel and he's back in our motel room. You don't have to worry, he doesn't know I'm with you."

Kevin and Daniel were escorted to a booth for two and gave the waiter their orders. Daniel leaned back in his seat while Kevin kept scanning around the restaurant.

"You don't have to worry," Daniel said. "No one knows that I'm with you here."

Kevin glared a little at him. "Yeah, well I'm not ready to take your word for it just like that. Besides it's not that I'm afraid of angels finding me. It's demons that I'm really worried about."

Daniel looked around himself. "Don't worry. No demons are around so you could relax."

"How would you know?"

"I don't see any," he answered.

"I doubt that they would announce it for just about anyone here in this place."

"Yeah, not their style but that's a moot point. I'm able to see demons and angels in their true forms. Trust me, there are none hiding in here."

Kevin looked wide eyed back at him. "You could see demons in their true form? Angels too? How?"

Daniel nodded. ."I'm a specially gifted person. I'm sure you heard of people like me before."

"No," he said shaking his head.

"Really? Two years being immersed in the Supernatural and you haven't heard of it before?"

"No but I've kind of been busy to really look into all of this stuff. What is it like?"

"For demons I could see their monstrous face that they're hiding behind the people they are possessing. With angels, I could see their halos, lights and before the Fall, their wings."

"Whoa," Kevin said as he tried to imagine how that must be like to see. "That must suck."

"Demons are definitely not pretty to look at, but seeing angels can actually be quite nice even if some could have a personality transplant."

Kevin snorted before he caught himself. "So…how long have you been able to do that?" he asked trying to regain some dignity.

"Err…a little over five years now."

"Five years? How old are you exactly?"

"Twenty two. I was close to 17 when this all started for me."

That threw Kevin for a loop. He was sixteen when all this demon and angel stuff was put up on him. That was just like him.

"What happened?"

"The Apocalypse," Daniel simply answered. "Things happened."

"I'll bet," he mumbled.

"I gotta tell ya. Going to high school and college with this hanging over your head wasn't easy but I managed to pull through."

"Wait…you got to finish school? You went to college?"

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "Of course. University of Illinois."

"How?"

"Studying. Good grades."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I meant…with all of this. How?"

"I learned basic tricks to protect me to my high school senior year and then I went to join the Battalion."

Kevin caught sight of Daniel's cuff where he was reminded just who it was he was speaking to. He was getting absorbed in Daniel that he almost forgot that he was part of that group that Sam and Dean ran into all those weeks ago.

"The Battalion?"

"Yes, Michael's Battalion."

"And what is Michael's Battalion?"

He folded his arms. "Why do you want to know?"

Kevin didn't know what to say to that but was spared a quick answer when their waiter returned with their food orders. Kevin and Daniel started to quietly eat their food as they cast glances at each other.

"We're a secret society," Daniel finally said after a few minutes of it.

Kevin wondered why Daniel was answering his previous question but he found himself too curious to question it. "Secret society?"

Daniel nodded. "The Battalion was started around the Dark Ages as a way to combat the forces of Hell and protect the sanctity of Heaven. Many high level demons like the Seven Deadly Sins had emerged during that time and with the angels meant to not directly interfere for us humanity was suffering. The Archangel Michael and his loyal angels in the Powers came forth to guide us and offer us their knowledge and expertise for us to stand our ground." He then pulled his sleeve back to reveal the cuff. "That made protections like this become possible."

Kevin focused his gaze on it. "What does it do?"

"Many things. Keeps me from being possessed. It makes it slightly draining for demons to approach and be in close proximity to us. It also gives power to a special exorcism of ours that we use to banish demons to a deep part of Hell to make it dead near impossible to claw out from."

"Wow…that accessory piece can do all that?"

"It can."

"That's…kind of cool," he said in full appreciation of it. "What are you trying to do anyway?"

Daniel took another bite of his pasta. "Fix things," he answered when he swallowed.

"I meant, here, in Lebanon."

"I'm looking for something," he answered.

"What?"

"It's something that will help set things right."

Kevin could see that that was as close an answer as he would ever get on that. The two of them finished their food and Daniel called for the check.

"Kevin, would you mind dropping me off at a bus stop?"

"Why a bus stop?"

"I have a feeling that you wouldn't want to be on constant look out for anyone following you from where you drop me off. I know that I wouldn't like to be on constant watch from where I'm staying here in this town."

Kevin could see that Daniel didn't want Kevin to know where he was like he didn't want him to know where the Bunker is.

"Okay. I guess that's fair."

Daniel asked the waiter for his pen and a piece of paper. He then wrote down his number and gave it to Kevin.

"Here's my number. If you want to talk then call and we could meet on neutral ground."

Kevin took the number from him and looked at it. "What makes you think I'll want to do that? How do you know I will call you at all?"

"I don't but you're taking my number so I have faith."

* * *

><p>The two cars full of angels had pulled into a run down ski lodge that seemed to have been condemned for a good while as the windows were all boarded up. There was a thin layer of snow covering the area and the chill hit Castiel harder than the angels holding him. They grabbed him by his shoulders and one had a blade pointed at the small of his back. He looked over at the second car to see that the angels were bringing Azrael also at blade point into the lodge.<p>

"Move it!" one of his captures ordered.

Castiel and Azrael were pulled into the lodge where they saw that the inside contradicted what was on the outside. Inside was finely furnished and there was a roaring fire that lit up the lodge's lounge. When they made it to the center a figure stood up from the plush armchair that was facing the fire and turned away from them. The guy turned around and faced his two new captives.

"The once mighty Castiel, what an unexpected treat."

Again Castiel was lost on who this was without his grace but Azrael settled his curiosity for him.

"Malachi," he gasped out.

Malachi had been one of his officers during his war against Raphael. He was a brave recruit that hadn't been afraid of seemingly hopeless skirmishes against Raphael and was able to help his men hold their own during a good deal of them.

He went over to Azrael. "Long time no see Azrael. I see you're just as non-slippery as you always were. It was only a matter of time before you were caught."

He struggled against the angels keeping a firm grip on his arms. "How did your men find me so quickly?"

Malachi chuckled. "Please…it wasn't that hard. You might be slippery but you never were smart. Once we had the area you ran to, we knew you would go to someplace that you knew so the old outpost was the first place we checked and look what fell into our laps," he said pointing out at their other captive.

"I'll admit, that I thought my choice of a hideout spot was obvious. In fact, I was hoping it was too obvious so you won't bother to look there right away. But you and your men arrived too soon for me to prepare to bring Castiel to you all."

"Really?" Malachi said raising his eyebrow at him. "You were going to bring Castiel to us? You?"

"It was my hope that you would want him over me and allow me to go."

"Well, you're right about that. Castiel is more valuable than you Azrael. Yet, now that I have him, I'll consider you to be a small bonus."

"Malachi?" Castiel said looking harder at him.

"Yes," Malachi said moving over to stand in front of him. "I can't tell you how happy _I _am to see you again Castiel." Malachi then gave him a hard back handed strike across his face. "So now we can punish you for helping Metatron eject us."

Castiel's lip was split and his bottom lip was leaking little bits of blood. Malachi just shook his head at the sight.

"It's not what you think," he tried explaining.

"Take both them to the cellar," Malachi ordered to the others as if Castiel hadn't said anything. "I'll see to both of them later."

The cellar was dark and had molding brick walls where there were chains fastened everywhere. Azrael was stuck to the wall where there were shackles bolted to the wall where his arms were clapped shut against. Castiel was tied to shackles connected by a chain to the ceiling. Castiel's arms had to be raised to be fastened in. The angels then left the two of them there and closed the large iron door behind them. Castiel started to breathe a little harder and he could slightly make out his visible breaths in the cold, dank cellar room.

* * *

><p>Daniel made it back to the motel about half an hour after Kevin dropped him off at the bus stop. Daniel thought of how unexpected his night had gone. He started his day feeling a little sullen as it was already near two months since he had been here in Lebanon. Riley had left two weeks ago so he could enjoy the holidays with his family. Daniel's Christmas was simple but he did love Joseph's gift for him. He Skyped him and surprised him by allowing him an hour to talk with his older brother which he truly appreciated since it had been over a year since they talked. Daniel's time with Jedediah wasn't exactly stimulating though it was a little funny to see him react with all the yuletide celebrations going on around the angel and his small instances of annoyance at them. With all this time, the only success that Daniel had was finding out that a few vendors and cashiers had seen Sam and Dean Winchester from time to time at the markets. He became frustrated and wanted to have a break so he decided a movie would be a nice way to whine down.<p>

What a surprise to find out that a guy he met at the movies was the prophet that he and the Powers were searching for. He had seen old photos of Kevin Tran but with everything that happened to him, he wasn't surprised that he didn't recognize him right away. He decided not to tell any of the Powers that he had found the prophet. Joseph left him in charge of this operation and his meeting with Kevin was something that was between humans and should stay between humans. He wanted Kevin to have faith that he could be safe with Daniel and could trust him so he would show that any faith Kevin might have in him wasn't unfounded. Daniel had faith that they would have the artifact, Kevin and the tablets but it would be because he chose to come to them of his own free will. Daniel thought it was fitting to use free will to repair the damage that Dean Winchester did with his own.

He entered his room where he saw that Jedediah was still in the same tranquil sitting pose that he left him earlier that afternoon. If anyone saw him that way they would assume he was doing some kind of meditation practice. Daniel knew that he was really letting himself hear all the chatter that he could pick up on the angelic airwaves. He had seen Joseph, Nazareth and Ezekiel in similar poses a few times before and stay that way for over an entire day. Since a good many of the angels believe that the Powers are dead, it was easier for them to jump their waves and listen in. They were strong enough to listen in on the other angels trying to whisper to each other.

"Anyone saying anything interesting?" Daniel asked.

Jedediah exhaled deeply and slowly before he opened his eyes to gaze at Daniel. "Yes," he said slowly. "It is trying to be kept quiet but there has been some chatter amongst angels of Malachi's faction that they've captured one of the thirteen."

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "You mean the renegades? The other angels that were imprisoned like Barachiel was."

Jedediah nodded. "Yes. That's correct."

"Do you know which one?" he asked softly. "Is it the one that you and the others seem so worried about?"

Jedediah closed his eyes as he fought the impulse to shudder. He wishes that…he…was the one to be captured. But Jedediah knew that it would be too much to hope for. "No, I don't believe it's him. However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. It would seem that there is a little bit of excited talk among them about having captured Castiel as well."

Daniel widened his eyes. "Someone captured Castiel? And you say that it's a faction led by an angel named Malachi? Who is he?"

"A heretic that sided with Castiel after the Apocalypse and decided to gain power for himself when Castiel fell from grace along with a few others. I've never met him in person but his reputation has always been one who favors forward action. He never thinks before a conflict but only when the conflict has hit and hinders him."

"So a take the hit and then hit back sort of guy?" Daniel guessed. "

"I suppose so. I might not have any love loss for Castiel but if Malachi is able to have him talk I wouldn't like the thought of what one like him could do with the information he might obtain."

"But with all this new chatter shared amongst them that you intercepted then you must know where they all could be found, right?"

Jedediah smiled. "Yes. It would seem that they are to the west of here." Jedediah stood up and looked out of the window into the night sky. "I would say roughly 700 miles away."

Daniel thought on that. "It sounds like…somewhere in Colorado. My guess is somewhere in the mountains. Perhaps you should go then?" he suggested a little reluctantly. "I can stay here and wait for you to return."

"No," he said immediately. "My orders from Joseph were to stay with you and protect you."

Daniel wanted to say that he wasn't a helpless child. He didn't need to be watched all the time but he knew that his protests would go out the angel's ear so he didn't bother. "If not you then maybe another one of the Powers? Perhaps you could call on Nazareth or Ezekiel? They could go there and handle it."

But Jedediah shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Nazareth is in Virginia and Ezekiel is somewhere in Maine. They are too far to respond in effective time." But Jedidiah's eyes did widen in realization. "But there is another who we can trust to handle it. He is tracking for his brother close by but he is close by. Daniel, I need for you to send a prayer out to Abel."

* * *

><p>Kevin got back to the Bunker and let himself lie on his bed. Even though it was late Kevin wasn't allowing himself to sleep. His mind had too many thoughts going through it. Most of it around actually meeting the guy that had challenged Dean and Sam over a month ago. He didn't know what to make of Daniel. Daniel's explanation about the Battalion was amazing and it was more than he could've hoped to get on this new group. Then there was Daniel himself and how Kevin had felt around him. It's been a while since Kevin felt comfortable as himself since he had become involved in all of this and it was because of Daniel. Even before he learned who he was, Kevin had felt calmer than he had in a long time. Dean, Sam and even Castiel made him feel like everything is out of his control nearly every time they had a conversation about anything.<p>

They would tell him that he shouldn't get suckered in by Daniel; that he was playing him somehow. Kevin wasn't sure about that since Daniel hadn't really been trying to do anything. Daniel didn't really have to tell him anything at all or even put on any sort of act. He had been all alone and vulnerable and Daniel could've just taken him or something but he didn't. Kevin found himself wanting to believe that he was a decent guy. Was it because Daniel was someone that was actually close to his age? Or that he actually was able to go to school and be a normal person in all of this craziness like he didn't get a chance to? Or was it something else?

Kevin opened his palm to look at the paper containing Daniel's phone number. One thing was for sure, he needed to know more about everything this guy and what he was involved in. He then looked to the box he had found in the computer room earlier that day. Maybe he could even find out something that could tell him what was in there.

* * *

><p>Sam punched a vampire that was grabbing at him to try and take a bite out of his neck before he reached for his dropped machete and swung at the guy's head. Dean was rolling around with a female vampire that snarling at him. He brought his dagger soaked in dead man's blood into her leg. She got off him to pull the dagger out of her leg but found that she was stuck on her knees as the blood paralyzed her. Sam threw Dean his machete before he took off her head.<p>

"That all of them?" Dean asked.

Sam looked around at the carnage around them. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Dean then wiped his face clean of the blood that spattered on it. "Cause I'm hungry."

* * *

><p>Castiel could see his breath as a thick mist whenever he breathed out through his nose and mouth and he was starting to feel stiff. He was still hanging there by that rope that was looped at a hook attached to the ceiling and cutting into his wrists with Azrael still whimpering from his shackles at the wall close by.<p>

"Looks like your plan isn't working as well as you hoped, is it?" Castiel mumbled as he looked over at Azrael. "Given how it always ends with you locked away, maybe you should stop thinking so much."

Azrael glared silently at him. "Did your new status as a human give you a new sense of humor? Though you don't have much occasion to laugh right about now. What they are going to do to me will pale in comparison of what they'll do to you."

"He's got that right."

The two of them looked to the door where Malachi and another angel were before they stepped in and closed the door after him. Two hours later found Malachi still in there with Castiel but he was covered in fresh bumps, gashes and his trench coat was wet with sweat and blood. Malachi had been brutally beating and cutting him without even saying or asking a single word. When it seemed that he was done he took a step back to admire his work.

"Well, I'm sure that you've had enough. I'm sure that as a human, that standard interrogation must've been hell for you Castiel."

"Why don't you go there and find out yourself Malachi," he coughed out.

"Charming," he droned out. "But I find that whole talk or get tortured method too unreliable. I think if the torture comes first then it saves a heck of a lot of time. Now, if you don't want a repeat of the last two hours then you will talk right here, right now. Where is Metatron?"

"I don't know," he answered. "Believe me, if I knew then I would be there myself."

Castiel noticed that the angel with Malachi seemed to look away from him at his words. Malachi growled as he gripped Castiel by the crop of his hair to pull his head up to look at him.

"You know where he is Castiel, don't deny it. You and he cast that spell to cast us all out of Heaven. You know where he is!"

"I didn't cast the spell. How do you suppose I'm human now? He stole my grace for the spell."

"Which you could've easily given to him. You can't lie to me. Reports from members of Naomi's faction have you and Metatron seen conspiring with each other prior to the Fall. What were you doing then if not conspiring our eviction?"

Castiel kept his mouth shut. He knew that if Malachi knew that he was originally trying to seal the angels up in Heaven then he wouldn't be any happier with him. None of the angels would be. Though his silence wasn't faring him any better.

Malachi smiled savagely at him. "Yes, I thought so." He then started to drag his blade

"Malachi, try and think for a moment. Why would I want to have my grace ripped out and completely vulnerable to all of my brothers that clearly want to skin me alive?"

He shrugged. "You tell me. Who knows what goes on in your head nowadays? Or what those Winchesters have filled it with. For all we know, our eviction was their idea and you were so happy to do what those brothers want over your own. Looking at you now…I can't believe I actually was proud to believe in you. Castiel, the mighty Castiel who conquered the Apocalypse and defeated the Archangels, a broken and powerless lump of flesh and bone."

"I think I said roughly the same thing," Azrael said playfully from his place in bondage.

Castiel moved to glare at his fellow prisoner. Malachi had his blade and was angling it over Castiel's chest where a quarter inch closer and it would be fully imbedded in.

"Well, your time is over Castiel. Now, I will ask again. Where is Metatron? What is he up to next?"

"I. Don't. Know." Castiel growled out. "Besides Metatron should be the least of your concerns."

"Really? And what Castiel should be my highest concerns? I'm dying to know."

Castiel looked straight up at Malachi. "The Powers."

Things went eerily quiet for a moment before Malachi snorted. "The Powers? How are they meant to be a concern? You killed them when you defeated Raphael."

"It seems as though I might not have eliminated them as we all believed. Dean and Sam had a run in with Jedediah a number of weeks ago."

"Oh, and that's supposed to make me believe you? Quit wasting my time Castiel!"

The cellar door burst open.

"Malachi!"

"What?!" he snapped at the angel who interrupted.

"We have intruders! More angels are approaching the grounds."

"Bartholomew's faction?"

"I'm not sure."

Malachi turned to the angel that he had brought with him. "Keep watch on these two while I see to this."

"Sir," he nodded in response.

Malachi ran out of the cellar with the messenger on his heels leaving Castiel and Azrael with Malachi's aid. The angel pulled out his own blade and went for Castiel. He then cut the rope holding him and Castel dropped to the ground.

The angel then helped Castiel get to his feet. "Listen Castiel, I want to know how I can come in contact with Metatron. I wish to join with him and you have to tell me how."

"Join with him? You want to betray Malachi?"

"And I'm the renegade," Azrael said rolling his eyes.

"Silence you!" he said pointing his blade at Azrael before he looked back at Castiel. "Malachi is crazy. He believes that if he could slay Metatron then it would bring more angels to his side. Our faction's numbers are not too large and he believes it will be the best way to both lessen Bartholomew, Tyrus, and the other factions' numbers down and increase his own. He doesn't see that Metatron is the only hope we have of returning home. If he does succeed then we could be stuck here."

"And you think that I could take you to Metatron? I told you that I don't know where he is. I want to find him myself."

"I'm no fool Castiel. I saw how you tried to avoid Malachi's question about what you two had been planning. I saw the truth that Malachi did not. You are in an alliance with Metatron and I wish to offer my services to both of you in return for returning home."

Now his reaction to his hesitation earlier made more sense. Castiel could use this.

"Well…I suppose that Metatron could use more recruits, provided that he could trust them. He trusts my judgment but I don't know if we can put any in you."

"I could be trusted. You could trust me Castiel." The angel then cut the ropes binding his wrists together off.

Castiel was happy to have his wrists free and he stretched his fingers out to get the blood flowing again. "This is a good first step." He then looked up when he heard a distant thump. "Can you tell just what is happening out there?"

The angel went close to the door and honed his senses to feel out what was happening. "There is a lot of running about out there. It seems like there is some distant fighting going on outside of the building."

"Good," Castiel said.

He then surprised the angel by grabbing his hand that was gripping his blade and drove it into his heart killing him.

"Clever," Azrael said as Castiel took out the blade from the slain angel's chest and claimed it for himself. "But tell me Castiel, what do you plan to do from here?"

"Escape while they are distracted," he said. Castiel then opened the door slightly to see that there were no other angels standing watch outside the door.

"You are a fool then Castiel. You'll never escape. You might be able to outsmart and overpower one angel but not an entire group of them, especially as a human. Even if you did get lucky and evade them, the cold outside would kill you within half the night."

Castiel froze in his move to begin his escape. Azrael had a point.

"Yes," he mumbled. "You're right. I won't be able to escape. As a human I won't stand a chance."

"Exactly." Azrael said smugly at how he deflated his bout good fortune.

Castiel turned to look at Azrael with a determined look on his face. "So it seems that I only have one choice open for me then."

Azrael finally stopped smiling when he caught the look in Castiel's eyes. "What?"

Castiel went over to Azrael and softly slit at his throat with the stolen blade in the same manner that Metatron did him. Azrael looked on in horror as his grace leaked out of him and Castiel opened his mouth and absorbed it. Castiel's body then started to emit a glow that lit up the dark room.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter 16<strong>

A/N: Things are heated up within everyone, aren't they? Cas is getting his mojo back and Kevin is starting to have conflicting feelings about trusting or not trusting in Daniel.

The next chapter will be called In the Garden of Eden. Castiel is an angel again but is still in Malachi's grasp until unexpected visitors rear their heads in and break up the party giving him the opportunity he needs. Sam and Dean find a case that takes them to a hospital where children seem to be dying horrifically all of a sudden. While there, a security guard sparks something within Sam that he can't shake. And Kevin decides to meet with Daniel again to learn more about him. This 'episode' may be the first one that requires three chapters for me to get through. It's going to be a doozy of a plot as it's the halfway point of the story.


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